Suche:ab

In a world awash with negativity and fear, you are invited to climb aboard the Mocambo mothership where all colours and creeds are celebrated. The Mighty Mocambos have returned - stronger, tighter and hungrier than ever.
Carrying blistering funk lines in their fingers and worldly influences in their hearts, the unique and distinctive Mocambo sound is not one to be confused with retro bands trying to recapture an era. Eschewing traditional recording methods, this DIY crew are
committed to driving forwards, and 2066 sees them at the height of their powers, broadcasting a call for unity.
After reaching new audiences worldwide and earning critical praise for their two long players on Brooklyn's Big Crown Records in their tropical guise as Bacao Rhythm & Steel Band, the band have reassembled and refocused in their original form, the workhorses behind dozens of 45s on the Mocambo label and beyond. Crossing generations, this album introduces some of the world's youngest funk talent to step up and rub shoulders with soul and rap legends, soul sisters, an elder statesman composer/arranger and a brand new emerging artist out of New York.
___ As with all Mocambo releases, the two sides of the record have been meticulously sequenced by the
band. Side A welcomes us aboard with joyous instrumental stomper Preaching To The Choir, and a call to build bridges from Mocambo chanteuse and percussionist Nichola Richards, duetting with emerging raptalent,NewYorkMCJSwiss.B-girlsandb-boysarecalledtothedancefloorasS uperstradaand Concrete Stardust commence, all buzzing synth lines and relentless drums. New Jersey legend and Big Crown associate Mr Lee Fields is guest of honour for Where Do We Go From Here before a horn workout brings us to a close with Macumba. It's time for a breather.
The B side kicks off with the grand return of the Golden Girl of Funk, Gizelle Smith, a sister who's been busy taking on the world. Composer and presenter Peter Thomas narrates a Return To Space to mark the centenary of the debut of his score to sci-fi show Space Patrol, which first broadcast in 1966. We're back down to Earth and the mean streets for the furious drums and car chase workout of Golden Shadow. Today slows down the pace for a reflective ballad with Nichola front and centre - and here's the next generation: the Mocambo Kidz sing along to their parents' instrumentation for Here We Go, a new kids' block party anthem... with no sleep 'til bedtime. The album closer makes it clear that the Mocambos are nowhere near powering down as Ice T and Charlie F unk bring their A-game for an old school attack which, since you're up bouncing anyway, gives you no excuse not to flip the LP and drop the needle right back on to Side A. Onwards!
___ A summation of their journey so far and a celebration in anticipation of what's to come, the album is set
to take its place in a legacy of open minded, organically recorded music, showering listeners with the crew's maze of tantalising sounds pulled from funk, Afro, hip hop with cinematic composition and storytelling.
Agent J












l 12 Bounce That Ass (RMX) feat. Ice-T & Charlie Funk

Razor-N-Tape welcome hometown hero Danny Krivit into their stable of editors with a 2-track EP that sources a pair of vibes from the catalog of the ubiquitous "Q."Stuff" begins with a mysteriously looped and reverbed-out saxophone sample, building perfectly toward an eventual explosion of soulful horn stabs and vocals over a percolating rhythm section, in classic Q style. "The Story" tells a mellower yet mesmerizing tale, with its lush string arrangement and artful groove, perfect for those early warmups or late-night comedowns. A true living legend of NYC's rich DJ history, Danny dug deep into his personal cache of edit weapons for this very special record. Absolutely essential!

Carla dal Forno announces her second full-length album, Look Up Sharp , on her own Kallista records.

Dal Forno beckons a bold new era in her peerless output pushing her dub-damaged DIY dispatches to the limits of flawless dream-pop. In a transformative move towards crystal clear vocals and sharpened production, Look Up Sharp is an evolutionary leap from the thick fog and pastoral stillness of her Blackest Ever Black missives, You Know What It’s Like (2016) and The Garden EP (2017). Three years since her plain-speaking debut album, the Melbourne-via-Berlin artist finds herself absorbed in London’s sprawling mess. The small-town dreams and inertia that preoccupied dal Forno’s first album have dissolved into the chaotic city, its shifting identities, far-flung surroundings and blank faces. Look Up Sharp is the story of this life in flux, longing for intimacy, falling short and embracing the unfamiliar. Dal Forno connects with kindred spirits and finds refuge in darkened alleys, secret gardens and wherever else she dares to look.

In her own territory between plaintive pop, folk and post-punk dal Forno conjures the ghosts of AC Marias, Virginia Astley and Broadcast through her brushwork of art-damaged fx and spectral atmospheres. The first half of the record is filled with dubbed-out humid bass lines, which tether stoned hazes of psychedelic synth work as on ‘Took A Long Time’ and ‘No Trace.’ These are contrasted with songs like ‘I’m Conscious and ‘So Much better’ that channel the lilting power of YMG and are clear sequels-in-waiting to dead-eyed classics like ‘Fast Moving Cars.’

The B-side begins with the feverish bass and meandering melody of ‘Don’t Follow Me,’ which takes The Cure’s ‘A Forest’ as its conceptual springboard. It’s the clearest lyrical example since ‘The Garden’ of dal Forno’s unmatched ability to unpick the masculine void of post-punk and new wave nostalgia to reflect contemporary nuance. Look Up Sharp reaches its satisfying conclusion with ‘Push On’ - dal Forno’s most explicit foray into an undiscovered trip hop universe between Massive Attack and Tracey Thorn. The album’s last gasp finds personal validation in fragility: ‘I push on / I’m the Place I’m Going,’ a self discovery lifted by reverberant broken beats and glass-blown vocals.

Adding further depth to Look Up Sharp are the instrumentals, which flow seamlessly between the vocal-led pieces. ‘Hype Sleep’ and ‘Heart of Hearts’ drink from the same stream as The Flying Lizard’s dubbed-out madness and the vivid purple sunsets of Eno’s Another Green World. While ‘Creep Out of Bed’ and ‘Leaving for Japan’ funnel the fourth-world psychedelia of Cyclobe’s industrial-folk into the vortex of Nico’s The Marble Index.

Conceived as a whole, Look Up Sharp is a singular prism in which light, sound and concept bend at all angles. A deeply personal but infinitely relatable album its many surfaces are complex but authentic, enduring but imperfect, hard-edged but delicate. A diamond. Look up sharp or you’ll miss it.

Another fine slab of that Disco goodness from the mighty Kojak stable. Toronto party machines & re-edit maestros The Patchouli Brothers step up to the plate this time with 2 monstrous sides of peak-time Disco heat.
'BDSM / Gert A Chance' will not leave your bag, these cuts are primed, ready and able to lift the roof off of your discotheque, road-tested by the bros and deemed suitable the gods at Kojak Giant Sounds & Disco Promotions. Say no more. Essential wax for the discerning mirror ball fiend right here. Limited, as always. Do it!

Man Tear are back with this high-energy emo-disco record, originally scheduled for release some
11 years ago! A sweet little 7'' is what their equally fast-footed and broken-hearted fanbase are
finally being offered. On the record we find two captivating dance pop ditties from the greatest
band to never make it, once again proving that it’s all about love - not about emotions! Let’s hope
this release is the spark that sets Man Tear’s future ablaze. Let’s hope for death to self-loathing!
Death to expectations! Death to laziness! Man Tear are back, maybe!

Inc. Pfirter Remix

M. R. E. U. X. Is back with a new project which incorporates the elegance and quality of old school techno. The track “pulsation” is extremely psychedelic and creates a rollercoaster of emotions and positive vibes. Furthermore Pulsation will get you on the dance floor in no time and you simply won’t be able to stop dancing. The next track “noise dream” gets you in a magical atmosphere right from the first notes. The feeling will be overwhelming...close your eyes and get carried away by the outwardly beats and let your mind take over cause this also happens to be M. R. E. U. X. ‘S favorite tune. To complete this amazing new venture comes producer Pfirter gifting us with a banging remix of Pulsation reconfirming his quality contribution to all things techno. Be sure to look out for this track cause it will stick with any techno hardcore lover. Bottom line is that Blumoog music label is once again reconfirming themself as one of the best techno labels in the world. Stay tuned for new adventures.

The highly anticipated album by Jay-Z's 4:44 soul hurricane Hannah Williams & the Affirmations produced by award-winning composer and multi-instrumentalist Shawn Lee.

Hannah Williams, the British soul hurricane who sensationally became part of Jay-Z's chart-topping 4:44 album, is primed and ready for her own national and international breakthrough.

Williams turned heads worldwide when the hip-hop superstar sampled her heart-stopping vocals on 'Late Nights & Heartbreak' for the title track, '4.44' on his 2017 album. Now Hannah and her exemplary, Bristol-based band the Affirmations deliver a definitive career statement with the drop-dead soulful new album 50 Foot Woman which will be released October 18th on the Milan based imprint Record Kicks.

The album captures all of the visceral power of the band's increasingly legendary live performances. Shades of classic Soul and Psychedelic Funk blend uniquely with modern-day flavours on a record destined to set the soul agenda for 2019 and far beyond. "I've never been as proud of anything in my entire career" says Hannah.

Born in High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire, Williams'father was a musically gifted minister, and her mother let her join the church choir at the age of six. Hannah could read music before she could properly read words, and when she discovered soul by listening with her mum to Motown and Bill Withers, there was no turning back.

After a 2012 debut with her previous band the Tastemakers, it was 2016's Late Nights & Heartbreak that announced the arrival of Hannah Williams and the Affirmations. But little did she know that Jay-Z was listening. One day, at her then-day job running the music department at the University of Winchester, he sent her a text.

Once she'd established that it wasn't a wind-up, and summoned the courage to call him back, she learned that JayZ's producer, No I.D., had played him Hannah's track to inspire his response to Beyoncé's Lemonade, on which she sang of his infidelities.

Williams was as in the dark about how 'Late Nights & Heartbreak' would be used until 4:44 dropped. But the substantial sample of her voice opened doors she never dreamed of. "It was an incredible catalyst," she says, "as a change in our collective career, and getting a global audience. Suddenly, there were millions of predominantly American hip-hop fans listening to my voice, going 'Is this from the '60s? Is she dead?'"

What followed was a year of the band's widest-ever touring including an invitation to perform at Central Park Summer Stage NY, Toronto Jazz Festival and Brooklyn Bowl NY and expanded audiences in continental Europe where she and the Affirmations had already made a mark. Then came the burning determination to make the record of their lives. The captivating 50 Foot Woman is that album, produced by Shawn Lee, a respected presence on the funk/soul scene whose credits include Amy Winehouse, Lana Del Rey and Alicia Keys. Lee has released five solo albums as Shawn Lee's Ping Pong Orchestra on San Francisco label Ubiquity Records and is also one half of the cool melodic pop duo Young Gun Silver Fox.

Now the world will hear what the cognoscenti have known for a while: that Hannah Williams is the real deal, and sings from her very soul. "I feel like my performance comes from my solar plexus," she says. "The emotional side of it is so intrinsic; I can't take it away from what I do."

There Existed An Addiction To Blood" ist das insgesamt vierte Album von Clipping und ihr drittes für Sub Pop. Es ist der Nachfolger des von Kritikern und Publikum gleichermaßen gefeiertes Album ,Splendor And Misery" aus dem Jahr 2016. ,There Existed An Addiction To Blood" enthält die Singles ,Nothing Is Safe", ,Blood Of The Fang" und ,La Mala Ordina" (Feat. Benny The Butcher, Elcamino, The Rita), die von Clipping produziert, von Steve Kaplan gemischt und von Dave Cooley bei Elysium Masters in Los Angeles gemastert wurden. Das Album enthält auch Gastbeiträge von Ed Balloon, La Chat, Counterfeit Madison und Pedestrian Deposit. ,There Existed An Addiction To Blood" ist Clippings Interpretation eines neuen Rap-Splitter-Genres unter Zuhilfenahme ihrer einzigartigen Lupe. Clipping wenden sich auf dem neuen Werk intensiv dem Horrorcore zu, eines bewusst absurden und kreativ bedeutsamen Subgenres, das Mitte der 90er Jahre blühte. Einige der bemerkenswertesten Pioniere hießen Brotha Lynch Hung und Gravediggaz, aber es umfasst auch bahnbrechende Werke der Geto Boys, Bone Thugs-N-Harmony und die nahezu vollständigen Veröffentlichungen des klassischen ,Memphis cassette tape rap". Der wahrscheinlich subversivste und experimentellste Rap hat sich oft als ,Alternative" zu konventionellen Sounds präsentiert, aber Clipping verzerren das Ganze respektvoll in neue Konstellationen. ,There Existed An Addiction To Blood" absorbiert die hyper-gewaltigen Horror-Symboliken der Murder Dog-Ära, stellt sie aber in einem neuen Licht dar: immer noch dunkel getönt und düster, aber in einem seltsameren und lebendigeren Farbton. Wenn der traditionelle Horrorcore mit ,Blacula", dem populären Blaxploitationsfilm-Klassiker aus den frühen 70er Jahren, verwandt war, so ist das neue Output von Clipping analog zu ,Ganja & Hess", dem blutrünstigen Kultklassiker von 1973, der als unbesungenes Wahrzeichen des schwarzen Independent-Kinos gilt, dessen Score von Sam Waymon, Clipping als Inspiration zum Titel des Albums diente und auch Samples auf dem Track ,Blood Of The Fang" lieferte.ENG The science-fiction visionary Octavia Butler once declared that "there is nothing new under the sun, but there are new suns." The aphorism could apply to any art form where the basic contours are fixed, but the appetite for innovation remains infinite. Enter Clipping, flash fiction genre masters in a hip-hop world firmly rooted in memoir. If first person confessionals historically reign, the mid-city Los Angeles trio of rapper Daveed Diggs and producers William Hutson and Jonathan Snipes have spent the last half-decade terraforming their own patch of soil, replete with conceptual labyrinths and industrial chaos. They have conjured a mutant emanation of the future, built at odd angles atop the hallowed foundation of the past. Their third album for Sub Pop, There Existed an Addiction to Blood, finds them interpreting another rap splinter sect through their singular lens. This is Clipping's transmutation of horrorcore, a purposefully absurdist sub-genre that flourished in the mid-90s. If some of its most notable pioneers included Brotha Lynch Hung and Gravediggaz, it also encompasses seminal works from the Geto Boys, Bone Thugs-N-Harmony, and the near-entirety of classic Memphis cassette tape rap. The most subversive and experimental rap has often presented itself as an "alternative" to conventional sounds, but Clipping respectfully warp them into new constellations. There Existed an Addiction to Blood absorbs the hyper-violent horror tropes of the Murder Dog era, but re-imagines them in a new light: still darkly-tinted and somber, but in a weirder and more vivid hue. The album contains interludes with hissing recordings of demonic invasions, and guest appearances from Griselda Gang's Benny the Butcher and Hypnotize Minds horror queen La Chat. Other tracks feature contributions from noise music legends The Rita and Pedestrian Deposit. It all ends with "Piano Burning," a performance of a piece written by the avant-garde composer Annea Lockwood. Yes, it is the sound of a piano burning. There Existed an Addiction to Blood fits neatly into the broader scope of the band's career, which has seen them expand from insular experimentalists into globally recognized artists. Since the release of their first album in 2013, Diggs has won a Tony and a Grammy (both for his acting/rapping work as Thomas Jefferson and Marquis de Lafayette in Hamilton), as well as co-written and starred in 2018's critically hailed Blindspotting, while Snipes and Hutson have scored numerous films and television shows. Clipping's last album, the 2016 afro-futurist dystopian space opus Splendor & Misery was recently named one of Pitchfork's Best Industrial Albums of All-Time. Commissioned for an episode of This American Life, their 2017 single "The Deep" became the inspiration for a novel of the same name, written by Rivers Solomon and published by Saga Press. But their latest masterwork embodies what the band had been building towards - a work that finds them without peer. This is experimental hip-hop built to bang in a post-apocalyptic club bursting with radiation. It's horrorcore that soaks up past blood and replants it into a different organism, undead but dangerously alive. It is a new sun, blindingly bright and built to burn your retinas.

Dutch techno duo D&S - or Dennis & Stephan to their parents - hail from Rotterdam and have a penchant for the classic sounds of Detroit. Their previous releases on SK Black, Orbis Records, Indigo Aera's AEX compilations, ARTS and Girada Unlimited have earned them support from the likes of Adam Beyer, Marco Bailey and Ilario Alicante, and this tasty new EP for Abstract Reasoning looks set to find similar favour.

The pitter-patter of classic drum machine hi-hats drive the title track along with swooping, filtered pads and gentle licks of acid, the track gradually evolving into a veritable bubble bath of 303 goodness and gated synth swells. Incidence continues the theme, with gentle cymbal rides splashing over continually evolving acid blips and bleeps while mystical waves of chord melody envelope your senses in a foggy haze.

The second half of the EP flips the script beautiful with two broken beat tracks that show they have a real prowess for melody as well as rhythm. Lost In Sequence's thumping kicks are punctuated by the rolling tribal percussive elements and looming, sorrowful pads. Intricate rhythms and beautiful use of reverb and other FX create a dreamy atmosphere throughout. Partisan sees a morphing, resonant synth motif pulse over another pleasingly thick kick rhythm, and swirling, ethereal layers of atmosphere. All in all it's a superb release that has something for the dancefloor as well as the home stereo.

2024 Repress
ODD OKODDO is a Kenyan/German duo consisting of Olith Ratego and Sven Kacirek.

The two artists met in Kenya, about a decade ago, when Sven Kacirek was recording his "Kenya Sessions", an album that put Kacirek on the map of outernational producers. It was reviewed as a "World Music 2.0" (de:bug magazine), whose "fascination endures" (The Wire). Olith Ratego also made an appearance on the "Kenya Sessions”, on the track "Too Good To Be True".

The duo formed the project ODD OKODDO in 2018, with the two musicians joining their various talents which dovetail in perfection. Ratego writes the lyrics and vocal melodies while Kacirek composes, records and produces the arrangements of all nine songs on AUMA. They create a colourful, dynamic sound which is defined by both Ratego’s enormous vocal compass and range of timbres as well as Kacirek’s outstanding skills as a sensitive percussionist.

Olith Ratego sings in a musical style called "dodo", which originates from the shores of Lake Victoria in Kenya, high in pitch and soulfully expressive. He refers to his music as "dodo blues". His lyrics touch upon the topics of politics, family and of course: love. As a skilled luthier, Ratego builds his instruments himself, like the five-stringed Okodo which lends its name to the project.

Sven Kacirek is a multi-instrumentalist who has been commuting between Germany and Kenya for many years now. In the past he has closely collaborated with various international musicians, among them Nils Frahm and Shabaka Hutchings. Kacirek’s sound builds upon a powerful bass marimba which is present throughout the album. It sometimes invokes the sound of a tuned 808 kick-drum. He works with Kenyan an arsenal of percussion instruments as well as household objects and found materials. Kacirek has now settled into a signature sound which has been described as "thrilling and dizzyingly inventive" by the Australian Cyclic Defrost magazine.

The LP comes with a printed inner sleeve with liner notes by Tabu Osusa from the Nairobi based label Ketebul as well as explanations about the song lyrics.

Emotional Rescue returns to the music of British "pop" band Furniture, with an EP of the band's own extended versions, remixes and unreleased takes of their particular output.

Taken from three 12"s that followed When The Boom Was On (ERC072), the songs included cast a light on their development from 3 to 5 piece, adding Sally Still (bass) and Maya Gilder (keyboards) and the new male/female frontline. The subsequent broadening of their line-up and sound meant they could start to address the kind of pop music they wanted to play.

After the early releases garneered radio play and reviews, Furniture were launched into the melee of '80s pop. An anomaly, the band found they attracted a specific kind of "intense" follower, who were often beguiled by Furniture's freaky normality. This was addressed on the 1984 release, 'I Can't Crack'. A more urgent version of the sound Furniture had debuted with 'Why Are We In Love', the track, sung by Tim, was based around a sequencer-like rhythm played live by drummer Hamilton Lee, and a clarinet part played by Tim's brother, Larry Whelan. A mix of bleakness and euphoria, the song was and is a favourite of the band and considered one of their best self-productions, as well as becoming a latter day club play.

This is followed by the studio experiment 'Throw Away The Script', where the band wrestled with sequencers and synth-pop, but then countered it with a free-jazz sax solo. Found on the flip of the double A -side of 'Love Your Shoes' 12", this instrumental version too became an underground club hit, including a cult play at Fran Lenaer's influential Valencia club, Spook Factory. Played loud, the studio mastery, trickery and oft-accidental discoveries come to the fore, with tissue-damaging frequencies giving extra sound system shaking bottom end.

The B-side continues the band's love of making extended mixes with 'Dancing The Hard Bargain'. Co-produced with Tim Parry (formerly of Blue Zoo), they threw everything at these 12" versions. Able to relax and focus on the sounds they really liked, rather than the ones thought more commercial, this can be clearly heard on this compelling, percussive mix, a stop-start breakdown becoming a band hallmark.
To close this collection is the mammoth 'Bullet'. Again sung by Whelan, an edited version of which debuted on the 1986 Survival compilation of Furniture tracks called 'The Lovemongers', here this previously unreleased original take is centred on a mesmeric tape loop, live drums and a guest appearance by violinist Helena Bjorelius.

Lock up your 303s, Roy Of The Ravers is back with a brand spanking new album and it's quite possibly his strongest and wrongest to date! Following a limited run cassette version of the album, Who Are Ya lands on gatefold vinyl and spans 10 tracks and nearly 60 minutes of top quality turns, which sees our star player's BPM rising up into tougher, more hardcore-esque territory (Supremacy Acid, Roy Shat Over Ref) Who Are Ya also takes in some seriously smoked-out, slow-mo squelchers (Phaelon Acid 4, The Box) essentially making it a game of 2 halves (no mid tempo tracks allowed - ok??!) Through-out all of the album's giddy twists and turns however, it's Roy's trademark 303 constantly on the boil that crowns him man of the match, as he dribbles it skilfully from in and out of the mix, making him top of the league for acid once again. Hoorar!!

Luc Kheradmand, under his “nom de plume” Voiski, has created a gem of a record for ara, named At e Speed Of Love His highly distinctive sound is distilled into 5 stunning tracks which feel both analog and futuristic. Diverse yet coherent, the record is a fantastic blend of positive energies, unfolding and revealing its different faces as it progresses ; ecstatic at times, and moving at others. is is music with enough depth to project your own meaning and emotions.

Limited 12” Vinyl : Numbered edition of 500 . Handmade with love in Berlin

Each vinyl sleeve is individually painted with highly-pigmented acrylic, using a single-movement brush technic, on grey cardboard sleeves, protected by a high grade transparent outer sleeve Since releasing physical records is increasingly becoming an irrational choice, each ARA record is irrationally produced as an hand-made work of art.

Editions are individually numbered, recognisable as a part of a whole, while being slightly different by nature.

japanese living legend electronic music producer “takayuki shiraishi”, this album is his debut album on legendary experimental music label in osaka in late 70’s to beg 80’s which was run by yuzuru agi when shiraishi was high school student.

shiraishi had a big influence from the music of post punk, new wave ,kraut rock…, this album is his unique mixture of that kind music style.

one of the most demanded alternative music album in japan is finally reissued. remastered from original tape and mastering by kuniyuki takahashi.

When we talk about Tullio de Piscopo (Naples, 1946) we’re talking of a living legend of drums, whose career dates back to 1969.

In 1971, tired of commuting from Naples to Milan, he moved to Milan for good, where he joined as a drummer the group of Gianni Basso and Oscar Valdambrini. Shortly thereafter, he recorded “Fastness” and “Coagulation”, his very first single on a 45 under the moniker of “Jujuy”, for Aldo Pagani’s label “Analogy”, with the catalogue number “TRE 0”.

Recorded in 1971, but only relesed in 1973, “Fastness” and “Coagulation” are two fully instrumental tracks for solo drums and percussions, catching the spirit of the very early Tullio De Piscopo, before he became the most requested italian drummer from 1974 on, starting an incredibly successfull career still going on.

Our detective work allowed us to unearth the actual multitracks analog master and we’re about to repress this absolute masterpiece for the very first time on a 12” format, as the original 45 now fetches a three-figures sum on the collectors market.

Kangding Ray consistently fascinates the scene with his unique style that is bridging the dance floor and abstract electronic composition, talking equally to the mind and the body. His first record for Figure spans exactly that arc, introducing to the label something both for headphones as it is built for the big clubs.

The tracks on X13 feel as intimate as the artist‘s work on other long players but are focused clearly on impacting the physical realm. Teeming with ideas, he first lets his modular synths sway and turn loosely before switching it to a more bassy and propulsive approach on the flip. Balancing cinematic strings against stepping rhythms, the EP‘s closing track is another prime example of this producer‘s skill to craft something which holds up as an abstract piece of art as much as it does yield a lot of emotional tension.

Temple is proud to present its 6th record to date, this time from Richard Wenger (R Weng) as Richard Lamb.
Drawing loosely on industrial, dub, and early Moog music, Automatic Tango is the result of a three-year experiment in minimal synth maximalism.
Often sentimental, mildly uncomfortable, and bordering on absurd, Automatic Tango will you have asking, who is Richard Lamb, and why is he so greasy?

The album »Pillars of Salt« creates a space of freedom and activity in which Ozan Tekin shows his various skills as a keyboard player and producer, but also turns his innermost to the outside: Nothing sweet or narcissistic here. Three of the seven tracks were produced for the independent Turkish film »Tuzdan Kaide«, which had its premiere at Berlinale 2018. The surreal epos is transformed into a seductive hypnosis, not least thanks to Tekin’s music. Although just a few people have heard about Ozan Tekin before, the artist from Istanbul has already shown up in prestigious scenes: as the keyboarder of the Libyan disco star Ahmed Fakroun, as a part of Cologne’s nextbigthing Boddy and also under his singer-songwriter alias Seyrek Rifat.

O'Girl aka Ellinor Jackson is back once again on Borft! Her debut left me wanting for more. Like label boss Villa Abo said 'Sometimes you just feel right about it'. Although this 4-tracker is her second record out there the music is fully matured house goodness. Stabs and chords builds up a funky groove on a solid beat foundation in Corners Couch. Proper sunset/sundown dance music. Snap Happy dives right into filtered loopy loops and voice samples. It takes its time so you can get snug and cosy and then unleashes a percussion party right at the end so you'll be smile-dancing and sipping fizzy in no time. Shoddy Shoes is a straight up club joint. Dark wobbly techno bass moves dubby stabs forward while a mysterious mist floats on top. Some strong clap action keeps everything moving from side to side! The last track is a lush French Riviera happy moment. Warm pads, classic house piano and bass action all day long. Smiles everywhere and not a cloud in sight! - Sahpo Ripasso

Detalji gilt als eine der vielverprechendsten jungen Produzent*innen aus Finnland, die 2019 den "Breakthrough Of The Year Award" des finnischen Radios und den Femma Award (finnischer Indie-Grammy) als bester elektronischer Act gewann. Ihre "Sex EP" auf ihrem eigenen Label Deep Limit ist bester Indie-Electro für den Underground-Club und wird von den Medien abgefeiert.

Felix Lee has created a world for his debut album “Inna Daze“, a kind of post-human environment where the sun never really rises and everything is lit with a burnt out glow. These are survival ballads for the near future, whose vocals, mutated to fit into this setting, drift in a haze of dissociation. Musically, at first glance, it's sparse and minimal but with continued immersion, subtle iridescent-light shadows shimmer around grainy colour, sub bass rises through kicks and snares retooled from their surroundings, not so much refixed as decaying. Felix has been here before in his incarnation as Lexxi, making his debut appearance on Total Freedom’s 2012 “Blasting Voice“ compilation, and as a co-producer on Elysia Crampton's “Demon City“ album. He then went on to release his first instrumental EP “5TARB01” in 2016 on his own imprint Endless. He also runs an NTS show of the same name, along with previously holding raves, cross pollinating and interacting with the vanguard of the electronic underground. The punky crunch of those earlier releases is reflected in tracks like “Smoke” made with long time collaborator and southside resident Kamixlo. These club moments inevitably give way to the vocals, conveying a feeling of loss and renewal. Intended to exist both inside and outside the club, it's an electronic music that at times feels like a skeletal take on shoegaze, solidifying that feeling with the intense rising synths of the album closer “Slow Decay“.
Inna Daze's features include Drain Gang members Ecco2k and Whitearmor, Yayoyanoh, Quantum Natives' Oxhy, and Gaika, as well as Felix making his debut as a vocalist, his voice filtered through effects to give it a slippery, steam-like texture, echoing around the songs, giving them a second skin of sensed abstraction. One of the most thoughtful and interesting debuts of 2019, “Inna Daze“ beckons the listener into its simultaneously toxic and beautiful sound-world. Keeping enough distance to provoke more questions than answers, the album unfolds in a different way on every listen.

Picnic Record's founder Captn K is back and while he was gone he got a 909, "What are you gonna do with your 909 Captn K?" – "Try doing a bit of house I guess." So with this release the West Australian producer lends his unique style to a bit of 90s inspired house.

Sometimes you just gotta get it off your chest, and with the world the way it is there's a fair bit to get angry about. On R U COOL? Captn K shakes his fist at the sky and gets old school with his 909 and trusty bass synth to let it all out. A rant filled bad-ass-belter that cranks you up and kicks out the bad vibes. It's funny but relatable. It's simple but it's big! Included is a dub version for the club when you want the wriggle without the rant.

On the flip we got Tonite We Flying, a sexy piano driven builder that launches into a vocal filled disco/house track. Amazing husky vocals from Captn k's mate, Britt Bro tell the story of a night out and the desire to be free. Chugging piano n bass, juicy synth swells n sweeps and funky percussion get jiggy with their long time pals, 909 kicks n claps! Together it creates an uplifting energy filled anthem that makes you want to soar into the night!

Let you ears and sub be the judge, chances are you'll find a place for this one in the crate at your next party.

7"

As we continue our project with the Foundation voce of UK Reggae - Sandra Cross - the next instalment is the electrifying 7"| Sound System weapon called 'Jah Love". This monster riddim has been shaking up speakers across the dub world all summer.

Sandra Cross needs no introduction, she is a true legend whose career begun at the age of 14 with a no.1 hit in the UK Reggae charts. Since then she has gone on to be one of THE defining female voices of British Reggae. Sandra’s award winning career has seen her hook up with the likes of Mad Professor and Sly & Robbie for a near endless round of hit singles & albums.
Vibronics, the future sound of dub, have been vibrating the world with bass since 1996. Their music is at the forefront of the UK Dub scene, proven by over 60 releases on their own legendary SCOOPS label as well as a host of albums, singles and remixes for a myriad of other labels such as Jarring Effects, Dubhead and Jah Tubbys. In the studio they have worked with Michael Prophet, Iration Steppas, Macka B, Aba Shanti, Brain Damage, High Tone, Big Youth, Gaudi and an almost endless list of dub & reggae luminaries.

May not know Maedon, the artist formerly known as pulsewidthmod, but you will soon; she has been pulverizing select dance floors with live sets since her arrival in Brooklyn late summer of 2018. Shrouded in mystery, there is one thing known about her, she’s a wizard with the hardware driven by some fierce passion for the music.

After having toured across the country on her own, she released a 12″ EP with the highly-respected Detroit Underground. Now she is ready to bring her work to the next level with a hard-hitting EP that epitomizes her sound on Adam X’s legendary Sonic Groove label. The label, of course, is known for delivering some of the hardest and intricate records in EBM and industrial, having releases from Rebekah, Dasha Rush, and Orphx.

Against His Will opens with the uncompromising ‘Illusion’ and its all-out destructive energy. Industrious and unforgiving synths dominate this cut, while a riff shifts in and out of chaos. The unrelenting percussion almost calls out like demons, as if you’re making your way down the river Styx, but instead of a boat, you’re on a mechanical conveyor belt.

Tasked with the difficult job of following that opener is ‘Limited Hangout’ which ends up proving as powerful as the first. A bit more punchy, this track has more body to it, the percussion is enchanting, and through all the chaos you will be dancing and stomping.

Next up is ‘Special Report’ in an attempt to tame and focus the disarray. The track has less overall unpredictable texture, and more EBM flared body banging beats. Still an absolute powerhouse, it uses door-pounding percussion to drive it along with modulated synths and riffs generating a menacing presence.

‘Alchemy’ brings the proceedings to a close. The textured cut is a slow down to things. Well-thought-out and more EBM than industrial, it demonstrates Maedon’s dynamic range of skills. Rhythmic drum patterns sway the beat while swirling and electric modulations percolate and oscillate throughout. The dark stabs evoke an underground feel, and although the track evokes smokestacks and assembly lines, it is inherently primal.

Floating Points' personal collection of global soul, ambient, jazz and folk treasures form the latest in the warmly revered Late Night Tales series.

Sam Shepherd aka Floating Points' music taste is notoriously tricky to define, ranging from ethereal classical at one end to coruscating techno at the other, united only in a firm belief in the transcendental power of music to move hearts, minds and - yes - feet. Similarly, his production career has ranged from early experiments in dance music with breakout records such as the 'Shadows EP' and collaborating with legendary Gnawa master Mahmoud Guinia to his expansive album 'Elaenia', which met with critical acclaim upon its release in 2015.

This Late Night Tales excursion into the depths of the evening reflects his broad tastes. The globally-travelled producer has collected untold treasures on his travels from dusty stores in Brazil to market stalls near his hometown. There's the gorgeous 'Via Làctea', culled from Carlos Walker's debut album, Abu Talib's (Bobby Wright) plaintive 'Blood Of An American' and Robert Vanderbilt's gospel reworking of Manchild's 'Especially For You'. Raw soul and feeling oozing from each song's pores.

At the other end of the music scale are the modernists, such as Québécoise Kara-Lis Coverdale who weighs in with the indelible 'Moments In Love', Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith whose 'Milk' is an exercise in tranquility, while Sarah Davachi's meditative mix-opener offers respite from a weary world.

We have some exclusive tracks for Late Night Tales; alongside Davachi's offerings there is also Toshimaru Nakamura's 'Nimb #59', as well as the now traditional cover version. hepherd delved into his childhood
memory for this one, a track taken from the first album his parents bought him, Kenny Wheeler's 'Music For Large & Small Ensembles': Sam offers up his interpretation of 'Opening Part 1'. Wheeler also contributes horns to Azimuth
track The Tunnel, written and performed by Norma Winstone and John Taylor who, coincidentally, are the parents of Floating Points' drummer Leo Taylor. Closing the album, Lauren Laverne reads the suitably nocturnal poem 'Ah! Why, Because The Dazzling Sun' by Emily Brontë.

'I tried to find music that reflects the stillness of night. And because my musical interests lie all over the place, it's quite difficult to distil that notion down to just a few songs. I was quite keen to have some electronic music in there but I also really wanted to have some soul music mixed in, so I had to try and find a pathway between all of this different music.' - Sam Shepherd (Floating Points) March 2019

There is this phenomenon that I call the „Keope moment“. I saw it again at this year's Sacred Ground Festival. Two guys start playing music on a guitar and a table full of unknown objects. Nobody knows them and nobody knows what to expect. 20 minutes later everybody’s dancing because some strings just pulled you close to them and made you dance. I sincerely hope that when you listen to their second LP - which I’m very proud to be able to present you - you can’t help yourself but dance! Frank Wiedemann

“Dive / 4AM” is the latest outing from San Francisco Bay Area-based six-piece, The Seshen. The 7” outlines thesteps the group has made since their critically acclaimed sophomore album in 2016, both as a band and as individuals. “Since ‘Flames & Figures', a lot has been taking place both internally and externally. We were on tour for the last album when Trump was elected. There was an intense heaviness, a familiar one, one that extends generations and it just sunk in even further”, singer/lyricist Lalin St. Juste explains.

Side A opens with distorted four-to-the-floor chomper, “Dive”. Aggressive yet danceable, gritty but somehow unstoppable, “Dive” is inspired the profound need for change, catalysed through the somnambulant Larry Heard-esque bassline meshed to the warped tones of Lalin’s vocals. “The path towards my power, my strength, being okay with being unapologetic is just starting. I’m reclaiming what I have lost, reclaiming what has been passed down to me. The song is about the ground beginning to shake”, Lalin preaches.

While in contrast on side B, “4AM” untethers the listener by exploring a sense of spaciousness, flourishing the sparseness, distracting with moving snippets of delicate production. Lyrically tackling the insomniacs waking nightmare, “4AM” is about the witching hour, battling against oneself. "I was experiencing anxiety at night...where I would review all my actions and all the things I said throughout the day in search of something that I did wrong. At times it would keep me up, and I felt that I was at war with my mind.”

Spread out over two 12"vinyls - this is the result from a two day recording session in Brussels by the duo of Beau Wanzer & Maoupa Mazzocchetti. 25 minutes of dance floor perversions that tackle an array of rhythmic forms. Sludgy synths, serrated percussion and viscous distortion goops over leviathan rhythms

Beau says, “We hooked everything up and just pushed play. We didn’t really discuss much about the process….it was very ‘spur of the moment’.” The equipment set up included a Roland TR-808, TR-606, SH-101, CR-78, CR-8000, two Syncussions and effects. Each EP contains 25 minutes of dance floor perversions that tackle an array of rhythmic forms. Sludgy synths, serrated percussion and viscous distortion goops over leviathan rhythms

This 4 track EP comes out of Ibiza Records archive vault's called Archives Vol 5 produced by Low Block Noise in 1991 & EOAD in 1993. Each of these tracks represents hardcore and merging of jungle breaks starting to come through in the early 90s.

A. Rave in the Bedroom - This track produced by L.N.B made in 1991 has some great piano stabs and had a sample taken from 'The Young Ones' bbc2 sitcom as back then it was all about the big samples being used.
AA. Its Not Big & Its Not Clever - This track from L.B.N made in 1992 and has a classic sample taken from Robin Williams 'Good Morning Vietnam' film. The track has strong jungle breaks that were now a dominating presence at that time in the scene.
AAA. Love The Feeling - This track produced by E.O.A.D made in 1993 is more hardcore with the piano stabs offering a ravey anthem feel representing the warehouse scene. Which was dying out and Jungle was becoming the more dominant force.
AAAA. This track produced by E.O.A.D also made in 1993 and is a remix of the original with the hardcore elements offering a more raving anthem feel representing the warehouse scene back then.

After a seven year hiatus since the release of their debut LP on ESP Institute, Kyle Martin and Jonny Nash’s Land Of Light return with their sophomore album for Melody As Truth. Written and composed over the course of two years, “The World Lies Breathing” reflects the pair’s shared development towards spacious, abstract composition crafted from a wide range of contrasting sound sources. Utilising a combination of acoustic instruments, contact microphones and Martin’s self-built modular synthesiser “The World Lies Breathing” focuses on the space between sounds, conjuring up an organic yet alien landscape that exists on the edge of an unknowable void.

Two dope Island Boogie tracks by Experience, an Afro Reggae group hailing from Germany. - Very nice steeldrumming in these tunes..

Experience’s “Share It With You” and “Happiness” can both be found on the private LP release “Oh! What A Feeling” from 1982. The group consisted of Anthony Flaverney from Trinidad, Curvin Murchant from Jamaica, Daniel Kofi Jefferson from Ghana and John Innies from Trinidad and was founded in Hamburg.

Anythony Flaverney, the lead singer on both songs, was active as songwriter and musician in Germany since the mid-1970s, most notably appearing on the Peter Herbolzheimer arranged “Caribbean Rock“ album by Malcolm's Locks (be sure to check their funk version of Bob Marley’s “Get Up Stand Up”!). Curvin Merchant, a highly respected drummer from Jamaica, settled in Germany around the same time. Before forming Experience, he was a member in several groups, including highly successful pop acts like Boney M. Later he became known as "Germany’s Grandfather of Roots Rock Reggae", among other things buildung up the "Reggae Center" in Hamburg. Flaverney and Merchant are joined by Daniel Jefferson on bass and John Innies on steel pan. The band existed for about 2 years, touring in Germany and Europe, unfortunately recording only one album which features a unique mix of Reggae and Funk.

The first track “Share It With You”, should give any serious music lover goose bumps. It was written by Flaverney and features a deep groove, steel drum solos and fantastic soulful vocals. It’s that type of tune you will play in a DJ set and people will come up to you and ask what it is. The single version is slightly edited.
Side B continues with Happiness, an equally great track with positive vibe and attitude, written by Flaverney and Jefferson. Again, the steel pan sounds give it that special compelling “Island” vibe from Trinidad.

The single is limited to 300 copies and comes in a beautiful picture sleeve showing part of the original artwork from the “Oh! What A Feeling” album.

Giallo Disco is more than happy to welcome one of the absolute O.Gs of the 2nd wave of horror synth, the one and only Kansas City Warrior turned Mr Dr Hollywood himself… Umberto, who’s new EP ‘Outskirts Of Reno’ takes us deep into the seedy underbelly to tell the tale of a kidnapping. From the EBM dancefloor darkness of The Basement to the ascension-like arps of Repeat. Five brand new tracks from the master of mood destined to work it’s way into the record bags of discerning DJs across the globe… and into the nightmares of the weak… Limited to 200 Copies. Art by Eric A Lee.

Pregnant Void returns with another of their deeply involving and thought-provoking albums, this time from Berlin based sound designer and live-performer Francesco Devincenti.

Devincenti has been making music all of his life and quickly established himself back home in Northern Italy. To further his talents he headed to Berlin to study at the S.A.E. Institute and soon went on to a job at Analogcut mastering studio. As such he is a sound design wizard with an exceptional ear for detail and someone who can get real meaning and soul of out the machines he often solders together himself. He is part of a couple of live hardware duos - MORK and TDV - and always fuses ambient, techno, distorted grooves, jungle beats and dub moods into his immersive recordings.

This new album draws on ten years of life experiences and uses music as a way of telling his own autobiographical story. "With the album I try to explain what I have inside in a way I cannot using only simple verbal communication: those moments of Brutal Reality where you lose something very important and cannot fully express yourself." Though always obsessed with finding his own musical voice, Devincenti is also inspired by studio masters like King Tubby, Adrian Sherwood and Mark Ernestus. His experimental music follows no existing path and is made on modular systems that result in unpredictable and unconventional ambience and rhythms. A number of collaborations add more flavours to this most rich and rewarding album, including friend Hi.Mo, label boss Simone Gatto and vocalist Alice Lobo.

Brutal Reality is filled with truly freeform electronic music - sounds without borders, but with very real narrative and an absorbing sense of emotion that makes it a moving listen in more ways than one.

Alexander Pletnev started an entirely new journey under his own name two years ago. Release after release on forward thinking and respected labels like Media Fury, KUMP, Fleeting Wax, SZE and Hard Fist, he has built a solid discography of incredible diversity - from percussive DJ tools to viscous synthetic EBM to dreamy weirdness.

His latest EP titled Voranto Bros is a long awaited return to Le Temps Perdu and the prime example of refined musical storytelling. Title track is a cinematic tale, a sound novel about two migrant brothers hitting the shores of USA in the dawn of XXth century to became vicious gangsters, broken souls ruling the night of NYC. Dusty tape hiss, off kilter percussions and melodies all alternate to later sink under the weight of heavy drums. While Hope They Wont Come Back is a severe instrumental ballad with low drums, talking bass lines and noisy guitar riffs - five minutes inside confused man's mind.

On a remix front, Cocktail D'Amore's head honchos Discodromo strip Voranto Bros down to bear bones to deliver EBM style dance floor burner. And Harold Boué aka Abstraxion aka Lion's Drums of Biologic Records fame delivers menacing remix for Hope They Won't Come Back, a dark & mystic journey, which unwinds slowly and builds up to unexpected climax.

(180gr vinyl) Polysom re-issue of Gilberto Gil rare 3rd album, and a key piece of the Tropicalia puzzle – one of the most wildly experimental albums from those years, and Gil's last before going into exile! Tracks include "Cerebro Eletronico", "Volks Volkswagen Blue", "Futurivel", and "2001", which was written by Tom Ze and Rita Lee – plus the wild cut "Objecto Semi-Identificado" with vocals by Gil!

Hailing from Modena, the Northern Italian motor city, Strata-Gemma produce a music of beautiful symmetry, intense craft and surprising angles. Born as a club night, the trio grew out of jam sessions where musicians would play over the records DJ/producer Billy Bogus spun. Their name came about due to the core members finding shared inspiration in records they considered "hidden gems" (gemma means gem in Italian) while paying homage to the Detroit Jazz label Strata Records. Thus from a love of jazz and soul, soundtracks and library music, Strata-Gemma were born.

Where Strata-Gemma's 2018 debut album had a lush, late-night ambience about it, Autunno 1 is more intense and agitated, a reaction to extreme political and weather conditions. As with all things Italian, Autunno 1 is both beautifully sculptured and filled with wild passion while serving as an intense soundtrack to our fractured world.

Strata-Gemma are Billy Bogus (beats), Andrea Moretti (double bass, strings) and Luca Cacciatore (brass, wind). For Autunno 1 they are joined by heavy friends on drums, synth and Hammond.

FPO (onesheet currently in development):

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The digitally remastered release of JAK3's Moonlight Radiation is a menagerie of cyberpunk mutations arising out of the Memphis revival rap movement. The album's big, blown-out sound might have seemed an incidental result of an analog recording process in its original cassette release. Now, rendered in digital clarity, listeners can better perceive how JAK3 sculpts varying degrees of panic, aggression and resolve very intentionally through the hard mix of industrial noise, inventive beats, flush synths and recordings from a slew of rappers including Freddie Dredd (Toronto), Apoc Krysis (Memphis), and fellow Waistdeep Clique members Agnarkea and Calsutmoran.

The short format of Moonlight Radiation's 16 tracks allows JAK3 to cover a lot of ground, and even within a single track he keeps one guessing. Track 2, "2FAKE," goes from an atmospheric burn, to a slow drive with the snappy flow of Moistbread, and then abruptly crashes back into an oozing vortex of synths. The penultimate interlude "Return from Hyperspace" sounds like one is being forced through a hellish modem, only to land in a haunted and abandoned transmitter for the closing track, "This Night Will Never End."

Between, those tracks, one gets a tour of the wild possibilities that could come next from this producer and the sounds emerging from the Memphis chopped-and-screwed scene. In a milieu that is retreading the past, the mutants of Moonlight Radiation may seem to be arriving a little prematurely. But you can't stop evolution when the field is so wide, and young producers like JAK3 are moving fast.

Delsin founder Marsel Van Der Wielen revives his Peel Seamus alias for a debut album proper. The leading Dutch techno label began in 1996 with a cassette-only Peel Seamus release, Publik Draft, which Van Der Wielen primarily distributed through early online channels of communication. There was a small flurry of 12" releases from the project around the turn of the century, but for a long time Peel Seamus has been quiet. Now Van Der Wielen has gathered together tracks from his archives, mostly written and recorded circa 2000, to present the Peel Seamus debut album proper, Susurro. Rooted in the classic Detroit and European techno that Delsin's identity is forged on, it's a deep, rich listen laden with heart and soul to match the mechanics of Van Der Wielen's chosen tools - a masterclass in expressive electronics and a fascinating insight into the musical DNA behind one of the world's finest techno labels.

The best thing about trends is often their counter-movement. In times of digital hysteria, the
contradiction lies unsurprisingly in deceleration, in turning away from algorithms. The search
for the diffusely concrete, a kind of musical memory from the infinite ocean of sounds and
acoustic figures, is at the centre of a dark glowing cloud called Mantra Mantra.
Between Techno and Toto, drop shadows and ethereal patterns, Sam Irl and Daniel Helmer
simmer their hypnotic sounds.
The music whispers with every note: we are only two interconnected home studios,
quietly eloquent through the night as an anti-hysterical mantra to all the recipients of this
universe.

The Mancunian electronic music pioneers 808 State are about to return with Transmission Suite, their first new album since 2002.

50 years ago, a young Panamanian singer by the name of Ralph Weeks, who a few years prior had cut his teeth in the US music landscape with the group Johnny & The Expressions, self-produced and independently released a record with an absolute monster of a soul ballad called "Something Deep Inside." It was a song that Weeks had come up with on the spot during one of many gigs in the heart of Brooklyn's Prospect Heights, at the time a cultural hub and community for many Panamanians living in the borough. Along with his group, The Telecasters, Weeks often played at a Panamanian-owned club in the neighborhood called 4 Star's (STA4R's) which would independently sponsor the release of the tune on a 7-inch single.

Fast forward to 2019, where a serendipitous meeting between Ralph Weeks and Names You Can Trust turned into a solid formation of musical synchronicity, bonded over a shared belief in musical fusion, a weaving of musical threads that was similarly the foundation of that earlier era in Panama. It's a fusion that has become a constant theme throughout the Names You Can Trust catalog in the last 10 years, connecting the dots from NY, the Caribbean and Latin America. An immediate plan was put into motion: return Weeks to a studio atmosphere that had eluded him in the preceding decades, a vibe and live musical presence that would be reminiscent of his time recording with The Telecasters and The Exciters in Panama.

In the ultimate tribute to Weeks and that foundation, NYCT label mates Combo Lulo unpacked the 50-year old original tune and refashioned it into a timeless rocksteady ballad. It was an opportunity for Weeks to acquaint himself with a new band and a new generation of musical talent. Ultimately, it was an unexpected chance for Weeks to reconnect to the music he wrote one fateful evening in a Brooklyn club. For Combo Lulo, Names You Can Trust, and now the rest of his musical admirers, it's a chance to hear how gracefully Weeks' voice has aged, still silky smooth with those beloved falsetto runs, sweet and rounded like a barrel-aged añejo rum. It's a testament to the timelessness of Weeks' original music, and certainly another reminder of how far and wide even the smallest of musical blips can spread.

Presented as a double-sided bilingual 45 single, both versions of Weeks' classic tune, "Algo Muy Profundo" and "Something Deep Inside," have been formatted in the traditional Jamaican style, skillfully cut live and mixed under the guidance of NYCT and Combo Lulo's talented musicians. It's a tribute to a brilliant record and an unsung architect of Latin American sweet soul, but also a love letter to a very particular NY-Caribbean fusion that theoretically could have happened 50 years ago, depending on the borough you resided in. After all, there was always something deep inside. Comes with NYCT / STA4R'S Company Sleeve & Liner Notes.

Inland is Vanessa Wagner’s continuation of the exploration of the minimalist composers register to complete the solo continuum of the Statea released in 2016 with the Mexican producer Murcof. Inland highlights a set of pieces, mostly rare or unavailable to date (Moondog, Nico Muhly, William Susman, Bryce Dessner, Gavin Bryars...) and some other well known (Philip Glass, Wim Mertens, Michael Nyman) that Vanessa Wagner performs with her classic pianist background and velvet sound.

Lucie Antunes is a French classically trained drummer and percussionist, inspired by the pioneers of minimalism. Her debut album SERGEÏ is a tour de force of eclectic music that leaves the listener amazed, almost hooked up in Lucie’s magnetic spiral of sounds. The eclecticism that pervades SERGEÏ is shown by Lucie ability to create labyrinths of sounds through the use of unconventional instruments such as marimba, vibraphones, celesta, tubular balls, glockenspiel and ondes Martenot.


Sergei is a statement of freedom. The same childish freedom that we run behind and that we desperately seek. Lucie, with SERGEÏ, achieves her freedom and builds on it, the artist that she is with no compromises but only with the determined ambition to break the boundaries, to shake genres and to make the eyes smile.

With its fourth catalogue number, Steinlach returns to the vinyl format with a remix EP. On board are international friends of the label, who layed hands on Wice's originals with outstanding re- interpretations. While the A-side contains two groovy and club-oriented remixes of "Just kiddin", the trippy flipside focuses on the second outcome of the label and refers to the two pieces "Absent" and "Hertz".

The record opens with a fast-paced and jacking "Just Kiddin" version by Deep'a and Biri. The two guys from Tel Aviv re-interprate the clubby aspect of the piece, furnish it with a portion of percussions and accompany it with a volatile beat. Discharging the track with a big bang, they're leaving the listener with no chance but to move energetically to the groove patterns while cherishing the original lead melody.

Just like Deep'a and Biri, Jon Hester bets on the energy and the recognition value of the original synth line. As typical for Jon, he gives a more Chicago-style housey and bouncy touch to the composition. The lead is getting chopped, re-interpreted and re-arranged into a new groove and melody pattern, sure to inspire the floor to shake and to catapult everyone around into a frisky dancing mood. Suddenly, the well-known arpeggio of the original comes in and makes for the climax of this brilliant remix.

With side B, the club aspect of the record might not be left behind, but moved into more stripped and trippy terrains. The B1 track is fashioned as a ruthless "Absent" version, unmistakably having Refracted's writing all over it. The smallest variations of the synth line, drones, and pads, without resorting to typical drum rack aspects, find their way deep inside the listener's head, and draw them into their subtle rhythm. The unapologetic roughness of the interpretation is striking and makes it a brilliant peaktime weapon.

Rounding up the whole EP, the last remix of the record is a wonderful re-interpretation by the talented Australian that is Mosam Howieson. He ministered to Wice's personal favourite piece and crafted a loving and deep version of "Hertz", which translates the magic of the original into own words and emotions, adds a subtle groove to it, then invites to listen more carefully. One quickly dives into a hopeful world in which a certain magic seems to be present, and where everything seems to be alright. Be it as a perfect last piece after a long fulfilling evening, or as the outstanding means to make the sun rise in the morning-Mosam's interpretation sure hits the spot.

Special thanks go out to our close friends Simon Sandleitner who is always in charge of the great artworks and Roger Reuter (Roger23) for having always an open ear, his helpful advises and his thought-out criticism.

lack Truffle present In Real Life, the latest in a flurry of releases from Berlin-based guitarist and composer Julia Reidy. Having drawn acclaim for solo performances on 12-string acoustic guitar that bridge microtonality, ‘American primitive’ stylings and classic minimalism, Reidy’s recent releases have utilised an increasingly broad sonic palette, fleshing out guitar-based composition with electronics, field recordings, and – most strikingly – heavily auto-tuned vocals. On In Real Life, Reidy pushes one step further, crafting an epic LP-length suite that moves from abstracted song to lush electronics and explorations in contemporary musique concrète. Beginning with a passage of eerie electronics and creaking percussive interjections, Reidy’s heavily auto-tuned voice quickly takes centre stage. Surrounded by explosions of electric guitar and synthesised arpeggios, the auto-tuned voice delivers a melancholic ode, bringing together poetic images to reflect on the instability of experience and mutability of identity in a contemporary world saturated by digital technology. This concern with the unsettled relationship between the physical and digital is reflected musically by the constantly shifts in emphasis between Reidy’s physically demanding guitar-picking and the various forms of synthesis deployed. Similarly, the dynamic imagery of cutting, shattering, and ‘racing streams’ present in Reidy’s lyrics also serves to characterise the structure of In Real Life, which ceaselessly shifts between distinct episodes. The song-based opening, long sequences of frenetic 12-string guitar shadowed and eventually overtaken by synth tones, passages of delicate chiming harmonics, electro-acoustic cut-ups – each flows seamlessly into the next, often recurring throughout the record’s duration, which lingers over interstitial moments between these episodes.

Mixed and mastered by Joe Talia at Good Mixture, Tokyo. Vinyl cut at 45rpm for maximum fidelity by Rashad Becker at D&M, Berlin. Artwork by Suze Whaites. LP desgn by Lasse Marhaug.

Suha's "Hora EP" consists of organic bodies composed by an electronic mind.
On his first release on The Magic Movement, the emerging electronic musician from Istanbul imagines a three-track story: The mythical figures - Hermes and Hezarfen - are in search of a unified space named Hora above variant timelines.

Under the arabesque shadow of occidental chords and oriental strings, the EPs multi-layered tracks take you on a cosmic flight: Folkloric dance elements build up progressively over a driving rhythm while Suha's ethereal vocals flow alongside old chants. Massive brass and gritty 70's synths accompany ancestral lyrics that herald of unknown realities soon to be realised.

The EP is produced and mixed by label head-honcho Noema, whose magical touch reflects through well-thought arrangements of Suha's compositions and their powerful sound.
In this EP, you'll be witnessing a harmonic gathering of two figures on the obscure mountain of Hora.

Music Mania and Indica Dubs is proud to present a triple colour vinyl 7” series in their Mania Dub series. These unreleased songs have been produced by one of the biggest pioneers of UK Dub; The Disciples! The Disciples were formed in 1986 by brothers Russ Bell-Brown and Lol Bell-Brown. They were given the name by Jah Shaka, after producing exclusively for Jah Shaka.

True Love: played with exclusive mixes over the decades by Aba Shanti-I! The slow but heavyweight bass line and synths are the perfect combination of a serious sound system killer tune! One of the most popular demanded dubplates for release. African Odyssey: named after the spiritual vibe of the tune, this tune has always got people dancing in sound system sessions. Deep Space: played regularly as dubplate by King Shiloh sound system and many more. This fast tempo steppers tune drops well in sessions every time.

Extra: pressed in colour vinyl to make a red - yellow - green set for the Disciples Dubplate 7” Series.

Music Mania and Indica Dubs is proud to present a triple colour vinyl 7” series in their Mania Dub series. These unreleased songs have been produced by one of the biggest pioneers of UK Dub; The Disciples! The Disciples were formed in 1986 by brothers Russ Bell-Brown and Lol Bell-Brown. They were given the name by Jah Shaka, after producing exclusively for Jah Shaka.

True Love: played with exclusive mixes over the decades by Aba Shanti-I! The slow but heavyweight bass line and synths are the perfect combination of a serious sound system killer tune! One of the most popular demanded dubplates for release. African Odyssey: named after the spiritual vibe of the tune, this tune has always got people dancing in sound system sessions. Deep Space: played regularly as dubplate by King Shiloh sound system and many more. This fast tempo steppers tune drops well in sessions every time.

Extra: pressed in colour vinyl to make a red - yellow - green set for the Disciples Dubplate 7” Series.

Music Mania and Indica Dubs is proud to present a triple colour vinyl 7” series in their Mania Dub series. These unreleased songs have been produced by one of the biggest pioneers of UK Dub; The Disciples! The Disciples were formed in 1986 by brothers Russ Bell-Brown and Lol Bell-Brown. They were given the name by Jah Shaka, after producing exclusively for Jah Shaka.

True Love: played with exclusive mixes over the decades by Aba Shanti-I! The slow but heavyweight bass line and synths are the perfect combination of a serious sound system killer tune! One of the most popular demanded dubplates for release. African Odyssey: named after the spiritual vibe of the tune, this tune has always got people dancing in sound system sessions. Deep Space: played regularly as dubplate by King Shiloh sound system and many more. This fast tempo steppers tune drops well in sessions every time.


Extra: pressed in colour vinyl to make a red - yellow - green set for the Disciples Dubplate 7” Series.

Die Martinez-Brüder Chris & Steven aus der New Yorker Bronx sind seit über 10 Jahren in der House-Szene aktiv. Seit 2011 haben sie eine feste DJ-Residenz auf Ibiza, legen auf renommierten Festivals wie Ultra, Time Warp oder Tomorrowland auf und kollaborieren für ihre eigenen Tracks mit Grössen wie Chic(!), Miss Kittin und Tiga. Sie betreiben mit Cuttin' Headz ein Label und gleichnamige Partynächte und legten 2014 dem Mixmag UK-Magazin einen exklusiven CD-Sampler bei. Grund genug für Fabric, sich das berüchtigte DJ-Duo zu packen und ihr erstes offizielles Mixalbum zu veröffentlichen. Dieses bestreiten die Brüder mit 23 erstklassigen Tracks, die von Chicago-Innovator Paul Johnson bis Detroit-Multiinstrumentalist Amp Fiddler reichen. Dazwischen steuern The Martinez Brothers mit "Jam Joint", "Mistakes" und ihrer Top-Kollabo mit NY-House-Legende Louis Vega ("Let It Go (TMB Alternate Version)") drei exklusive eigene Produktionen bei. Die DJ-freundliche Doppel-LP enthält 12 ausgesuchte Perlen, darunter von Mahony & Flogg, Roots Orchestra und zwei Exclusives der Martinez-Brüder.

In early 2018, Jas Shaw, one half of Simian Mobile Disco was diagnosed with a rare health condition – AL amyloidosis – a disorder of bone marrow cells. Having just completed SMD’s 7th studio album Murmurations and with a special show at the Barbican scheduled for April, things were thrown into confusion. At the time, no one, including Shaw, knew how the prognosis would pan out. Jas had to start chemotherapy almost immediately, which meant cancelling the tour. The duo decided to go ahead with the Barbican show in spite of Shaw’s illness, which was especially poignant as all involved knew it could potentially be SMD’s last ever live performance – in the end it turned out to be a tour-de-force. If this was SMD’s swansong, so be it.

In the year that followed, Jas spent months receiving weekly chemotherapy, learning to live with his condition, and when he felt well enough, spending hours in his studio making music.

The result of this was twofold, firstly a collaborative album with Derwin Dicker (Gold Panda), released as Selling – On Reflection, on City Slang Records Secondly, a growing archive of solo work, which is now ready for release. Entitled “The Exquisite Cops”, this 20+ track growing body of work will see the light of day via SMD’s Delicacies label – with a 2-track single released every fortnight /month and a limited
edition double LP scheduled for 27th September.

At the end of 2018 a difficult year was capped with hopeful news. With his condition in remission, able to stop chemotherapy Jas is able to start DJing and playing live again.

Jas: “The Exquisite Cops tracks seem to have made their own system for creation. Normally I record electronic music like a band would, as a take. So, it’s kind of surprising to me that that this batch of tracks wasn’t made this way. Instead of a single take that gets edited and developed these tracks were all made in bits, usually months apart. Some days I’d make a drum track, often editing it down so that it’s some sort of semblance of a structure; on other days I’d end up just making a synth sound or texture. This wasn’t something that I gave into reluctantly, it’s nice to be able to give a feedback based pad your whole attention rather than just set it up and only attend to it if it gets really out of hand.

The process of matching these misfits together was originally born out of laziness, rather than break open the synths to make something to develop an idea, what if I could just use something that I already had; slack. The interesting thing was that in pulling two takes together that were done months apart, they cast each other in a different light and though sometimes making them fit together was a hatchet job, sometimes they locked up together in an improbable way, making the rough structures that I’d improvised make a different sort of sense; often a more interesting sort of sense.

The more I did this the more it felt like this was not just a slacker’s way to use up offcuts, this resulted in combinations that I’d probably not have chosen if I’d done the tracks in one go. Also, and I know this isn’t something that’s important to everyone, there was a level of fastidious detail that I’d never have got if I’d had the textural and rhythmic elements playing together. It’s a longwinded process but it’s changed how I record and how I think about recordings I’ve made; plus I enjoy all parts of it so why cut it short?”

Sarah Benabdallah and Alexis Lebon are a very 21st century musical coupling, absorbing their metropolitan surroundings while tapping into a rich cultural heritage, not unlike fellow countrymen PNL or the Dutch band Altin Gün. A Paris-based duo set for greatness they might be, but it’s fair to say Mauvais Oeil are operating under a misnomer: while their name means “evil eye” in French, you’ll only experience enlightenment when you lay eyes (and ears) upon them. Mauvais Oeil are set to release their debut EP Nuits de velours, a magical melting pot of musical shibboleths and contemporary grooves. On opener “Mes nuits de velours”, we’re transported in the land of 1001 Arabian Nights, with the music every bit as smooth and alluring as the subject matter. “Afrita” is a trance-inflected musical acclamation evoking all
the madness and gayety of a midsummer souk. Sung entirely in Arabic with delightful blasts of strings, it’s a North African-influenced banger with a delicate wistfulness. “Asha” meanwhile is in a reference to Asha Vahishta, the middle-eastern concept of truth
according to the ancient religion of Zoroastrianism. Sung again in Arabic, it features catchy Phrygian guitar manoeuvres played over ambient analogue keyboard strokes. The E.P. is completed by “Constantine”, a song of longing, dedicated to the home of Sarah’s forebears. Having met in the arty northern faubourgs of Paris, Sarah and Alexis soon developed a musical telepathy and a shared sonic agenda, mining their own histories for the profound
cultural roots that underscore Mauvais Oeil, while absorbing the ubiquitous sounds of the suburbs, where Turkish, Armenian and Ethiopian music ring out. The band’s moving and melancholic chansons are delivered with a delightful French pop sensibility, making Mauvais Oeil one of the most exciting and musically diverse prospects in 2019.

Mais Alors !!?... c’est à l’envers is the first release of new French Label ICI BIENTÔT (Here Soon ...), launched by Paris Fleamarket’s Record Shop, Geminicricket. On the Menu... Suspended Time,
Unsung Heroes, Hidden Records and Next Door Marvels.
In 1983, NEF released their first and only album, Mais Alors !!?... c’est à l’envers. At that point, the band already had a long history, interwoven with that of various musical trends and alternative
movements from the late sixties to the early eighties. That’s certainly what makes this record so special and able to conciliate such different worlds as Electronic Prog, Film Score, New Wave …
The band’s destiny was most certainly tied to their native region, the South of France, an idyllic environment that attracted a number of musicians during the 1970s, allowing the group to attend many
concerts or share the bill with several groups that have gone on to become well known: Can, Ash Ra Tempel, Magma, Catherine Ribeiro, Zao, Chêne Noir, Art Zoyd …
Founded in 1975 by Richard Lorenzi, NEF started as a kind of Free Rock band with multiple influences, going from Prog to Musique Concrete, in which any method of making sound, any way of
bringing out sounds was good … 2 musicians and a photographer, full member of the band who was projecting slides over the music and influenced their dreamlike universe. In 1978, Vincent Tronc came on board with his keyboards and synths. While the group had been influenced by electroacoustic techniques until then, Vincent broadened NEF’s horizons, bringing in a host of new influences: Ash Ra Tempel, Kraftwerk, Klaus Schulze … the beginnings of electronic music. When the album is recorded in 1983, new directions were taken and changed NEF’s usual sound.
First, the idea of playing the accordion, clearly not a common thing and a new Drum Machine, the Roland CJ-5000. Pressed the day a figure of French Chanson died, NEF’s pressing is botched up, a
good part of the records were unusable since the records came out totally warped. Then, at the end of the eighties the small stock of remaining records is lost in the sadly famous flood of Nîmes. 2000
records had been pressed, but very few survived! All the more reason to reissue Mais Alors !!?... c’est à l’envers, an unsung record, free and multifaceted, a quirky and daring musical ovni, transcending eras and genres, between synthetic
Krautrock and Film Score, reminiscent of NEU! (with a red nose), François de Roubaix and Pascal Comelade.

PLR is proud to host a variety of talented producers from around the hemisphere, from Berlin to Montréal to San Francisco. The label is a brainchild of independent artist Experimental Housewife and was kicked off by prolific producer Roche (100% Silk, Jacktone, Hobocamp) and his breath-taker A Genuine Effort To Make You Comfortable. Soon after, the spring saw italo-sprinkled dance floor beats followed by slamming techno and weirdo-tronica, a non-genre made of intriguing sounds that play tricks on DJs. In closing, the roster will be opening ears up with a wonderful miniseries of ambient releases before the final EP: arpeggiated pop from conceptual two-man band Star Service .

Premiere producers like Lily Ackerman (As You Like It, Mioli Music), CMD (Jacktone, basic_sounds), Golden Diskó Ship (Monika Enterprise, Spezialmaterial, Klangbad), BLEIE (B.O.D.I.E.S., 3am Devices), Mo Kudeki (Noctuary, Public Works), and Tape Ghost (Asterisk, Night Sea) have all signed up to the roster, releasing fierce and excitable works that they have had for a while but hitherto were not able to release to the public.

Reverenced names like Ryan Merry (now Elexos Park but formerly Ghosts On Tape), Roy England (Make Mistakes, Communikey), Caltrop (In The Dark Again), Loren Steele (Wolf + Lamb, Jacktone), and Philadelphia warriors Sean Thomas (Drumsong, Sound Between Movement) as well as bpmf (Schmer, Serotonin, Prototype 909) have all offered exclusive productions.

Mysterious and up-and-coming producers like Emmett Perlman (Wage Slave, Make Mistakes), Bad Person , gayphextwin (Jacktone), BIlagáana (VODER), and Atlas Of Nothing can be explored in the catalog alongside new names like Memeshift, The Hug , and Jaclyn Kendall .

Our spotlight mastering engineers for digital releases include David Last, Abe Duque, Dark Star Audio, David Tatasciore, and Helen Heß. Our resident and extremely generous/talented engineer for the year has been the one and only Roy England.

Trentemøller returns with his fifth studio album 'Obverse' in September 2019! Anders Trentemøller is a well-known multi-instrumentalist, but perhaps the one he’s most adept at is the studio itself. 'Obverse' is the result of him expanding that skill even further. 'Obverse' often feels like an instrumental album because it started life as one, the driving philosophy being “what if the pressure of having to perform these songs live is removed entirely?” Granting yourself the freedom to chase down every idea a studio offers comes with privileges. What happens when you reverse a synth part mid-verse? Why not send an entire track through a faulty distortion pedal? Inspiration reveals itself in a variety of forms and, before long, a simple chord progression contorts into something entirely new. It’s a work method that yielded great results for the legendary German Kosmiche/Motorik experimentalists of the 1970’s. Intentional or not, 'Obverse' embodies more than a little of that spirit without even a hint of pastiche.

So it only makes sense that 'Obverse' would stray from its original roadmap. In due time, half of the nascent compositions featured singers, including Lina Tullgren, Lisbet Fritze, and jennylee, of Warpaint, another band deeply influenced by dream pop. While 'Obverse' was born from a different work ethic than previous efforts, it also continues an arc that started in 2006. Each successive effort has represented a logical next step beyond the album before, and 'Obverse' absolutely picks up where Fixion left off.

For the past decade Trentemøller has been perfecting this form of sonic chiaroscuro to conjure up images of severe landscapes, and to mirror the Scandinavian climate, where half the year the sun barely sets, and the other it barely tops the horizon. While there has been a film noir element in his previous work, 'Obverse' is the first time each song has felt like a collection of pocket soundtracks.

By fusing together a love of dream pop, dark synth-based music, film scores, and a deep connection with the stark Nordic panoramas, Anders has created an inimitable language. Ultimately 'Obverse' resides in a genre all its own.

The title Ghost Frequency works on several levels. I was introduced to the term when I first began learning about recording techniques. It was used (usually negatively) to describe sounds that appeared on recordings due to signal interactions that resulted from “improper” mixing or recording and read as “noise” rather than the “music” that was being recorded. I became instantly fascinated with the phenomenon and intentionally creating these sounds in my recordings by deliberately using supposedly incorrect techniques has become a big part of my composing and recording process, probably the most central and consistent practice of it. I’m interested in how the presence of these sounds, and traditional production’s insistence on eradicating relates to larger ideas about the eradication of vital social practices relating to the dead such as ancestor worship, mediumship and history itself in favor of state and market dictated modes of understanding existence. The internet abounds with references to the the term, but applied to ultra low frequency or “infrasound” which can allegedly be responsible for inducing supernatural perception experiences. These posts from the margins posit a Ghost Frequency that operates on the same level as a radio station, one can simply tune into paranormal activity. It’s also a pun on an imaginary metric of how frequently ghosts might be around at any given moment. The songs on the EP employ (as does all of my music) a large amount of Ghost Frequencies (i.e. sounds that appear on the recording as the result of signal interactions rather than those sounds being performed on an instrument) and they also orient themselves toward interaction with the dead as a necessary component of human experience, and a mode of resistance to state power and it’s accompanying carceral technologies.

It seems KPM have long been fans of Smith and Mudd and, after being introduced to each other by mutual friend Andy Allday, the peerless Balearic maestros were invited to contribute to the library label’s digital-only “Album Shorts” project. The results are predictably wonderful.

With past projects under our belt working with everyone involved so far it made perfect sense for Be With to take on the vinyl release of this instant library classic. But why is it called “Tea With Holger”?

“Holger” is of course Holger Czukay and the whole LP is dedicated to Smith and Mudd’s time spent with him and Ursa Major at Can’s famous Inner Space Studio in Weilerswist, near Cologne.

When not recording it seems they spent a great deal of time sat around being entertained by Holger’s stories and drinking many cups of different sorts of tea from all over the world. These moments provide some their fondest memories of their visits:

“Looking back, it was pretty incredible that we spent part of our lives with Holger in one of the most magical places we’ve ever known, Inner Space Studio. We have our memories and, of course, the Bison album we made with him. But to honour the time we spent with him, we wanted to dedicate an album to him called ‘Tea With Holger’. The names of the tracks are about that time.”

The album was recorded over several years in London, Margate and Gorthleck, a small hamlet in the Scottish Highlands. Mike Piggott, who played with Bert Jansch, handled the strings and played violin whilst Sam Creer lent his virtuoso cello work to the proceedings. The sessions employed a key recording technique from their time with Holger: hit record and play. They wanted to capture magical improvisational moments live and not do the work later on in editing.

In their own words (and in classic library record sleeve style) these tracks are collectively described as “Balearic themes including breezy soul, sun-dappled melodies, warm pianos and sweeping strings”. You want to hear this, right?

The album is vintage Smith and Mudd. The gentle piano ushering in opening track “The Gardener” is soon joined by low, bubbling drums. When the time is just right, lush guitars glisten above a Welsh language vocal that floats like silk. Easy as a sea breeze. “Innerspace” is of course a nod to Can’s aforementioned studio. Dark, heavy piano meets rolling drums before warm chords and luscious strings take over, gliding over moody grooves to drive you home. Closing out side A, “Weilerswist” delivers more beautifully rolling piano and guitars over thumping cellos and building drums.

Side B opens with the full, string-enhanced version of “Away From Me”. This is Smith and Mudd’s prefered version and it’s only available here on this vinyl issue. For us it’s the standout on this all-highlight album. Tribal tones, piano and cello set a melodic staccato for violin to soar over while rolling piano lines and gospel organ chords descend into a drum drop that leads to a glorious vocal lead finale.

Distant synths introduce sun-drenched guitars and uplifting strings in “Kölner Street”, before a spacey Moog solo leads to a spellbinding, sci-fi drop. The sunshine returns before the track ends. The album closes with “Tea With Holger”. Airy vocal swells are punctuated by plucked cellos and picked guitars, all wonderfully warmed by a soulful piano.

Cut by Pete Norman and pressed in the Netherlands by Record Industry, “Tea With Holger” comes in a classic KPM green sleeve complete with track descriptions from Smith and Mudd themselves. The finishing visual touches come courtesy of Richard Robinson. We’ve given this record the same care and attention as we give to each our KPM re-issues, and it’s just as essential.

Salin Records proudly presents Sable Blancs debut album
„Homecoming“. Each Salin Records release is about telling a
story and taking you on a journey. The day Sable Blanc told us
about the idea of producing an EP based on the memories of a
trip to New York City he made with three close friends in the
summer of 2018 we instantly fell in love with this idea. After a
few months of intense work, it became an LP - Sable Blanc‘s
debut album and also a debut for Salin Records as this is the
first album for the label. Inspired by the beautiful colours,
outstanding energy and peace all around New York City that
specific summer, Sable Blanc produced „Homecoming“. Every
track on the album is about memories and friendship. For two
reasons it felt like coming home for him. He lived a few years
in the US and went to high school there. It was amazing to
come back and finally meet a very close friend again. Sable
Blanc chose a photo for each track - taken by his friend Adrien
Philibert - which connects to the moment that inspired the
track. Daria Salin developed the photos using the cyanotype,
an analogue photo development process that was also used
for the cover background. Together with the stories that Sable
Blanc tells about each photo, the cyanotypes build an artistic
booklet that is a special feature of the album. Homecoming isan album for a quiet, cosy evening, where you sit back in your
favourite chair and hold the booklet in your hand to follow
Sable Blanc and his friends on their trip to New York City. Enjoy
the trip...Thank you for your support <3 Christophe & Daria

Clear Vinyl

BNJMN returns to Bright Sounds with Sensei; following on from the foundations laid by his "Final Network" EP released in the spring of 2018 he again showcases the melodic, yet hypnotic and pulsating side of his sound that he has become renowned for.

Starting with the almost house-like "Soared Above" synths fly over syncopated rhythms which build and then descend into something harsher and earthier.

"Intercellular" goes somewhat harder, yet still retaining the hypnotism and lightness of touch which will suit most hours in the club.

The title track is an exercise in restraint, one for the early hours when everything blurrs and only the space in between the sounds carry you along.

"Walking Into Yourself" showcases the dreamiest side of BNJMN, in slowing down the BPM the producer shows the intricate details of his sound, letting the listener in on a dense forestlike journey.

Mondoj presents Jeremy, the latest release from LA's Roy Werner, who is perhaps better known for his work as G.S. Sultan. While the Max/MSP magician's previous works delved into ideas of "avant-garde pointilism" (ad.sculpt tutorial, Orange Milk Records) or presented "abstract noise as a communicative medium" (Redundancy Suite, Phinery), Jeremy repurposes pop music to create abstract, vaporous forms.

Abukurt is the new alias of Niklas Kleber who is a german composer and music producer being involved in numerous projects from pop to electronic music. We know him as a friend for a long time and we are very pleased to welcome him to our DUAT family. The two tracks were produced in our Berlin studio by some influence of Amin Fallaha and Ruede Hagelstein.

Swedish composer and multimedia artist Marcus Fjellström's debut Miasmah release follows two critically acclaimed full length albums on Lampse (2006's 'Gebrauchsmusik' and 2005's 'Exercises In Estrangement'). In addition Marcus has had several commissioned works requested, leading to him working with, among others, the Swedish Royal Ballet, the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, numerous ensembles, soloists and filmmakers including 'Salad Fingers' creator David Firth. Currently based in Berlin, Fjellström's compositions often combine aspects of modern classical composition and arrangement and more avant forms of music, be that acoustic or electronic.

'Schattenspieler' (which translates as 'Shadowplayer') takes the form of eleven compositions which explore ambience and melody, texture and silence. Haunting synth and orchestral instrument-based audio constructions, flowing from one moment to the next - the fleeting ghosts of Fjellström's melodies rise, only to be buried under a claustrophobic clutter of percussion and creaking background noise. These pieces do indeed feel like you're listening to something more implied than obviously stated, as if Fjellström wants only to expose us to the shadow of the music - the implication being perhaps a more terrifying experience than to be confronted outright…listen to 'Schattenspieler' and you may find your mind starts to play tricks on you…

The undeniably Angelo Badalamenti-esque descending synth strings of opening track 'The Disjointed', lay the foundations for Fjellström's 'Schattenspieler' album; music resting somewhere between the unsettling horror soundtracks of Jerry Goldsmith, the elevating melodies of Cliff Martinez, and the subtle audio constructions of Miasmah label mates Kreng and Jacaszek. Marcus' wide ranging abilities in composition and his willingness to let go of accepted form and function makes 'Schattenspieler' a perfect choice of release for the Miasmah label. The suspense laden 'Antichrist Architechture Management', with its harrowing and tense undertones, weaving synth lines and a wash of static hiss and flicker, is a particular standout track. Despite it's a strangely oppressive sound, shafts of light grace 'Schattenspieler'; pieces such as 'Untitled 090616' find gorgeous melodies are boxed in by unsettling arrangements and sparse background ambience. There is a coldness to many of these compositions - not without emotion, but somehow remorseless. 'Schattenspieler' is, for the main part, a defiantly bleak journey.

Vinyl edition ltd. to 300 copies, purple vinyl, incl. 8-page 12" booklet with drawings by Marcus Fjellström.

Repress

Five years ago, the expression Russian electronic scene bore a tone of futurology and expectancies rather than a real state of affairs. It was possible to put together musicians of local and genre importance easily in general, but not of significance in national scale. With rise and further development of Gost Zvuk, Russian electronic music achieved power not only as cultural phenomenon within country s borders, but also fully proved to be a thing of international meaning. Starting operations in 2014, the label quickly defined its domains of authority and engagement and created full-bloody community of musicians, where everyone has a special view on his own work and unique sound. The projects presented on this compilation can be rightfully called the contemporary vanguard of Russian and global electronic music.

Each of resonant artists holds his own disparate creative field and impact. However, in this diversity the unity of creation of beauty and ingenuity is born, that distinguishes Russian independent electronica. All compiled tracks perfectly characterize the artists involved, sometimes from extremely striking sides; from HMOT s chaotic improvisations to kedr livansky s ethereal grooves, from unearthly landscapes of Gamayun to undistracted concisions by Ol or Buttechno. Both electric boffinry and club anthems merge into united vision, placed in graceful frame of Rashad Becker s mastering.

Maybe this compilation won t close the question What is the Russian Sound? , which has been arising for more than twenty years. Nevertheless, it is able to give an extensive view on the evolution of Russian electronica in the 2010s.

Aaaron continues his journey through mystic synthesis with his 5th ep for connected , “Cosmic Soul”. It seems with each release he gathers more depth to his music and minimises his style and production to naked artwork in sound where each instrument has its space for the the listeners imagination. Abstract yet magnetic , tribal and futuristic. Sink in the shadows and rise on the waves.

1.COSMIC SOUL A rhythm section playing robotic funk against an esoteric drone meets a melancholic piano refrain and pleading vocal monotones that go dubwise. The landscape of the track rises and falls to a vocal and piano breakdown with electronic flutes piping in the distance , peppered with percussive stabs throughout as the emotive waves surge to find earth. Quite beautiful. 2.MERCY Synthetic textures reminiscent of Blade Runner 2049 form a backdrop for a skeletal drum figure, as soft Kraftwerk like notes filter in and out and a skinny sequencer drifts across the track like crosstown traffic. A vocoder pulse and dreamy synth horns hold the scene in the shade of a hot sunny day as the city flies by in stop motion. 3.ITS NOT OVER Imagine a classical symphony based on 2 or 3 chords , revolving and hypnotising by its simplicity and gradually rising in sonic temperature. Set against a drumscape of toms and unnaturally pitched and distorted snares and phasing plastic synth percussion like a drifting cloud of locusts. The vocal “Its not over between you and me” is haunting and irresistible and the song draws you in, mystified by its simplicity . Devoid of frills , cold and heartbroken yet the embers of passion still glow. Innocently executed , Aaaron at his futuristic high.

We've reached a pivotal moment for Local Talk.
What better way to celebrate a centenary of forward thinking releases than to present one of the best kept secrets out there, MLiR aka Modern Life Is Rubbish this time joined by Arnau Obios.

After making a serious impact with their remarkable 'Swedish Lo-Life' and 'Trans-World Junktion' releases on fellow Swedish label Studio Barnhus, we're thrilled to have them onboard for our 100th release on Local Talk.

Yes, that is correct, we’re celebrating the big 100. Since the very beginning we've covered everything from the deeper shades of house to the jackin' and the gritty club jams, released some slower BPMs and also the uplifting, vocal and organic house.
As you probably noticed - we love it all.

The 100th release main track 'Lajbans' is one of those sublime tunes that is bridging the gap between all styles of dance music and got the MLiR trademark, it's epic and manages to offer plenty of subtle details to keep you locked for the full 9 minute experience.
Accompanied with the original is a masterclass in dub 'Lajbans (Bellaterra dub)'.
You got the versatility of the original carefully stripped back but also absorbing layers upon layers of seductive sonic moods, it's a trip for sure and you don't want it to end.
Once again MLiR proves why they will be a force to be reckoned with for years to come...

Artwork by Leolyxxx
Mastered by Sasse at Blackhead Studios

Wanubalé - nine guys from Berlin, inspired by the city's fresh Jazz scene and distinct club culture. Wanubalé met at school. Five of the nine in the band went to the same musical high school in Berlin.
Heavy influences from Jazz, Neo Soul and Funk shape their compositions. However, electronic sounds are just as important to Wanubalé. All of the nine are in their early twenties. All of them are into Dub, Bass Music and Broken Beats. And several members are DJs, as well. The Wanubalés are first rate musicians. They tend to take their time writing arrangements, yet they are careful not to overly emphasize their Jazz skills. Songwriting is a collaborative affaire, everything is developed organically.
Just like the band name, which dates back to the days of fooling around in the schoolyard, playing with syllables ("nuba" came first). Sound was crucial. Some say "Wanubalé" means "brother" in Swahili. Wanubalé: four horns, two drummers, guitar, bass, keyboards. Nine musicians with a knack for funky breaks, mighty brass sounds and great melodies. The musicians don't hide their influences: Snarky Puppy, Fat Freddy's Drop, plus younger acts like Hiatus Kaiyote. But Wanubalé do their own thing.
Wanubalé: four horns, two drummers, guitar, bass, keyboards. Nine musicians with a knack for funky breaks, mighty brass sounds and great melodies. All songs are written, produced and arranged by Wanubalé. Recorded at Jazzanova Studio, Berlin.

Dies ist das vierte und bislang unveröffentlichte Album von Kapingbdi, einer sechsköpfigen Band aus Westafrika, die ihren Stil als "African Jazz-Funk-Rock from Liberia" bezeichnete. Es enthält eine exzellente Mischung aus afrikanischen und westlichen Elementen, mit spirituellem Herzen und dynamischen Grooves. Im Januar 1985 und unmittelbar vor ihrer Auflösung nahm die Gruppe neun Tracks für ein abgebrochenes LP-Projekt im Masterpiece-Studio in Detroit/ USA auf. Erst 2019 wurde die Musik sorgfältig vom Original-24-Track-Tape überspielt und remastered. Musik hat für Kapingbdi keinen eigenen Zweck, sondern dient zur Übermittlung einer Botschaft, geboren aus der Erfahrung und Perspektive Afrikas und für alle Menschen bestimmt.

DJ Oonops presents Volume 2 of his extensive compilation covering genres from Dub, Jazz, Funk, Soul to Beats and Hip Hop featuring pretty well known artists as well as zooming newcomers. He spent more than one year to select artists from around the globe who reflect the sounds of his "Oonops Drops" broadcast on Brooklyn Radio (NYC).

Be that jazzy beats or virtuoso live jazz drums, keys and guitars from Japan by Kazumi Kaneda, RF and 45 a.k.a. Swing-O, a first-time- on-vinyl dub remix by Great Britain's Coldcut or a brass cover version of Rihanna's "Stay" by Sly5thAve out of the US. Most of the tracks are exclusives or first time available on vinyl for this compilation, like the song "Measly Peace" by Magic In Trees out of Nashville, German beatmaker Twit One with an ill Jazz instrumental or London based rapper and singer Amy Tru featuring Nubya Garcia.

Also you gonna hear a unique and rump-shaking cover version of Blackstreet's "No Diggity" by T Bird & The Breaks, John Turell's powervoice over some heavy beats by Soopasoul, Kinny with a catchy tune, Igor Zhukovsky from The Soul Surfers & MRR Drumetrics with an exclusive, pumping psychedelic drum track and Schemes from Montreal who take all the credits at the moment from the web by Vice, Okayplayer, Music Is My Sanctuary and many more. For the artwork Oonops collaborated once again with San Francisco based artist Lindsey Kustusch who mirrored the atmosphere of New York City on point with her oil painted artwork.

Be sure to get your hands on this limited peace of work before it's gone like Volume 1. About Oonops: beside his vinyl only show on Brooklyn Radio he is spinning banging club sets to relaxed mixtures for vernissages, museums or theaters. And furthermore he works as a product designer and he's listed in the top 50 of Germany's best table tennis players and focuses all his skills in an event which will bring all this together.

Razen celebrate their 10 yr anniversary with “Ayîk Adhîsta Adhîsta Ayîk”, an album that takes a paragraph from CG Jung’s Memories, Dreams, Reflections as a reference point to set off a journey that goes from light to dark, from day to night, from life to death, and back.

As much a reflection of primal imagery and rituals of knowledge as a way of coming to terms with anxieties about the chaos of the night, the album concerns itself with the question: who - or what - are we in the moments before (re-)birth, before waking up, in the state inbetween darkness and light?
On “Ayîk Adhîsta Adhîsta Ayîk”, the wind instruments and organ stabs of band leaders Kim Delcour and Brecht Ameel are expanded with Pieter Lenaerts’ five string double bass and sarangi, Jean-Philippe Poncin’s bass clarinet and chalumeau, and Paul Garriau’s hurdy gurdy.

The album sees the group explore new straight-to-the-gut emotional territory, while simultaneously showcasing Razen’s intuitive, continuous investigation of the acoustic properties and resonant possibilities of churches and chapels in the countryside around Brussels; after “Remote Hologram” (2014) and “ The Xvoto Reels” (2017), this time the St Agatha Church (St.-Agatha-Berchem) functions as the conduit for Razen’s acoustic sound jolts.

With the past ten years entirely devoted to the search for archetypical timbres and connotations by improvising on Early Music instruments, it’s no wonder that the world of Razen would one day collide with the world of CG Jung and take his writing as an inspiration.

A sonic hex tour de force from this unique ensemble, “Ayîk Adhîsta Adhîsta Ayîk” is a present-day, nocturnal emitter of the Coleridge quote that opens Jung’s Memories:
‘He looked at his own soul with a Telescope. What seemed all irregular he saw and shewed to be beautiful Constellations and he added to the Consciousness hidden worlds within worlds’.

Green Marbled Vinyl

AboutBlank produces here 3 magestic tunes...

Super positive state of mind style, not too happy through but really sunny and full of energy, with a repetitive serial music acid melody on the Cosmicology A side 45 RPM killer 180BPM harfloor track.

The flip open on a regular 160 BPM heavy kicker, trippy mental acid-pikes-of-ice more classic but bloody efficient...

Last track (same speed as A1) is a serious hard-kicker too... at the hardcore frontier with a crazy melody coming in, reminding the old school 90's transecore best-of...

This record was produced both by Brain Bending and Acid Night.

Visual by X.G.

Superb EP of a Dark Techno Doom starter sound... With an acid threatener Broken techno for the finish. BIG as usual with Violent Cases !!!

Twenty years ago the duo HIL ST SOUL released a groundbreaking debut album SOUL ORGANIC.
Zambian-born vocalist Hilary Mwelwa and producer/musician/songwriter Victor
Redwood-Sawyerr (VRS) had been working away in a North London studio creating a unique blend of neo soul, jazz and R&B that had critics on both sides of the Atlantic in raptures.

Billboard magazine enthused: “Brimming with R&B/hip-hop/jazz-flavoured rhythms and image-rich
lyrics….Even Aretha’s Until You Come Back To Me glows again under Hil’s touch”.
And talking about the lead single Strictly A Vibe Thang, US magazine Radio & Records were
smitten: “You can’t sit still on this one. While listening to this infectious tune you got to move something – even if it’s just your big toe!” In the UK Echoes magazine called it “one of the best UK soul albums ever”.

Strictly A Vibe Thang charted on the Billboard R&B Singles chart, following in the footsteps of Loose Ends, Soul II Soul and Brand New Heavies, while Hil’s acoustic take on the Stevie Wonder-composed Until You Come Back To Me came out of nowhere to be a sensation at America’s Smooth Jazz radio format It ended 2000 as the most-played vocal track of the year across US Smooth Jazz radio stations, and in the ensuing two decades it has been the most-downloaded - and one of the most-streamed - tracks on the Dome label. Also heavily played: the joyful mid-tempo groove of For Your Love

This 20th Anniversary Edition of the album – now in a gatefold sleeve – includes three bonus tracks not included on the original vinyl release: the acoustic version of Until You Come Back
To Me, the VRS Remix of Just A Matter Of Time, with its insidious groove, and Down To Business.

Hil is still very active, playing several UK shows this autumn, including one at London’s Jazz Café, where she first performed 20 years ago.

Raised in the multicultural and mind-broadening London borough of Enfield, Loraine James grew up hearing everything from steel pan music to Metallica, from jazz and electronica to drill and grime, and the results of this exposure can be heard on ‘For You And I’. In part the album explores the complexities of being in a queer relationship in London - “I’m in love and wanted to share that in some way … to make songs that reflect layers of my relationship.” – and as a whole ‘For You and I’ is rhythmically free flowing and sprawling, with melodies that evolve into rippling keys, feeling like a live jam session with a jazz mentality, contrasting the delicate and abrasive. Opener ‘Glitch Bitch’ is a warm ear-worm, brandishing swirling textures with undulating keys and compressed percussion, with an introspective theme revisited soon after on third track ‘So Scared’, whose glitched percussion and syncopated dub bassline build to a frantic meltdown melody. On ‘London Ting // Dark As Fuck’, inspired by Dizzee Rascals's ‘Boy In Da Corner', James explores the darker side of her production with her frequent collaborator Le3 BLACK laying verses over the skeletal track. ‘Hand Drops’ is an instrumental, about public displays of affection in a queer relationship. ‘Sensual’ reflects on intimacy with vocals by UK singer Theo, who's lyrics capture love and gentleness over a soft, minimal production of ethereal keys and scattered glitches. The albums’ title track is also the most colourful, it’s ecstatic and effusive chaos driven by fervent synths expressing elation and the joyful side of her relationship, while ‘My Future’ is a more reflective moment, where warping synths wash in and out with compressed kicks, as the artist considers the dangers that may come with her relationship : “I wanna tie the knot / But the rope is dangerous”. ‘For You And I’ is a deeply intimate and personal offering, expressing happiness, anxiety, joy, sensuality and fear through a vivid sound palette and an experimental sense of rhythm.

With the release of their first two albums and live shows supporting Snarky Puppy, Roy Ayers, Marcus Miller, Larry Mizell & the Blackbyrds, Butcher Brown, Yellowjackets and more, Resolution 88 have already established themselves as one of the UK's leading exponents of funk jazz. Their music is synonymous with the silky, buttery sound of the Fender Rhodes. They're also a bona fide band, a refreshing change in a musical world increasingly occupied by online collaborations and viral videos. They're best mates who love to hang out, play together and make their own music - that sincerity is evident in their songs and their chemistry on stage.


'Revolutions' represents a lot of firsts - the first time Resolution 88 have recorded to multi-track tape, the first time that they've included a real string and brass section, the first time they've included special guests on record and the first time they've pressed an album on vinyl. Imagine a combination of an undiscovered Herbie Hancock album from the mid' 70's, rare-groove samples from the golden era of hip hop (ATCQ, Pharcyde etc) and the new London sound of bands like Yussef Kamaal.

Every track on'Revolutions'represents an aspect of music on vinyl. On'Pitching Up'you hear the DJ pitch the record up from 33rpm to 45rpm.'Out Of Sync'simulates a clumsy attempt at beat-matching. The hypnotic, circling sax line that opens the title track'Revolutions'(echoed by the strings at the end) evokes the mesmerizing sensation of watching the record label artwork whirling as it spins on the platter.'Runout Groove'fades in and out; the drum beat mimics the distinctive, perpetual rhythm tapped out by the stylus as it reaches the runout groove. On the second side,'Sample Hunter'unexpectedly deviates from the main section into Rhodes-drenched interludes; the type of moment that producers searched high and low for back when hip hop was great.Marcus Tenney's (Butcher Brown) lyrics on 'Dig Deep'are all about the thrill of digging for records and'Matrix'is inspired by the hidden messages sometimes left in the matrix markings on record pressings. On'Tracking Force', you can hear the beat twist and morph as the stylus skates over the record. Finally,'Warped Memories'closes out the album with a wistful, melancholy melody. Sit back with a glass of Japanese whisky and a Cuban cigar (or whatever your chosen poison is), stick the album on and enjoy it from start to finish - although if you're listening to it on vinyl, you'll need to get up to turn it over to the B-side ;)

The Juan Maclean return to DFA with a compilation LP of 12-inch singles they’ve amassed over the past six years – re-edited, re-mastered, and ready for fans who may have missed the tracks the first time around. From the dub house sway of 2013’s “You Are My Destiny” to the high-energy stomp of this May’s “Zone Non Linear,” and featuring two never-before-released tracks, “Quiet Magician” and “Pressure Danger,” The Juan Maclean once again justify their longevity as a musical force that is more than capable of repurposing club tracks for every setting.

The Brighter The Light is put together in a way that lends itself to appreciating the sheer banging quality of the songs while simultaneously being able to dance to them in your living room. For example, take “Feel Like Movin,’” which Pitchfork called “gloriously beatific” and “pure DFA gold.” In the new remastered version, the fullness of the keys and the kicks takes over, unfurling across the listener. Deep house rhythms, sparkling synths and a certain spaciousness are what’s emphasized across the record. Gone is the slow-motion melancholy disco from their recent full-lengths – The Brighter The Light is all fierce enthusiasm and dance floor missives, perfect for those who aren’t quite ready to let go of summer.

Juan Maclean is a DJ and producer who has been a mainstay of the New York club scene, as well as maintaining a rigorous international touring schedule, since the release of his first records on DFA in 2002. Vocalist Nancy Whang is his longtime collaborator, best known as a founding member of LCD Soundsystem and a busy touring DJ. Together, the two artists have released an extensive catalogue of 12” singles and full-length albums for DFA, including 2014’s seminal In A Dream LP. The proper follow-up studio album will follow in 2020.

RMXD Versions of TB’s 2018 release “Night Heat”. With contributions from Gerd Janson, Sascha Funke, DJ Hotel and Bostro Pesopeo it’s all in the game; tropic machine rhythms, dist Chicago grooves, pinball lazerfunk and a touch of newromance techno.

Producer, part-time DJ and Permanent Vacation label co-head Tom Bioly aka TB from Munich, Germany, had a first track released, on John Talabot's vinyl-only Hiverned 10" imprint, called "Invitation To Love", which was voted amongst the best 10" releases by UK Fact magazine. GROOVE magazine wrote "..entirely superb..“, about the follow-up EP "City Girl" on Permanent Vacation, of which the title track has been licensed to the independent film „All These Sleepless Nights“ by director Michal Marczak. In 2017 TB followed with “Heartbreak Hotel“, a double twelve-inch release with eight tracks of melancholic dance noir set in smoke-filled darkness.

Wewantsounds continues its collaboration with Bob Shad's grandchildren, Mia and Judd Apatow, to present a 2LP selection of 13 turntable-friendly Mainstream Records tracks recorded between 1970 and 1973 and showcasing the label's superb blend of Funk, Soul and Jazz. All tracks remastered from the original tapes, most of them released for the first time since their original release with a few highly sought-after ones. Liner notes by UK journalist Paul Bowler. The Mainstream sound is unmistakable: earthy, rich and funky, it's the signature sound of producer Bob Shad. After working with such geniuses as Charlie Parker, The Platters, Billie Holiday and Janis Joplin over three decades, Shad decided to go back to producing Great Black Music in the early 70s through his label Mainstream Records and started releasing a formidable series of jazz albums known as the 300 series. Released between 1971 and 1974, these albums are the main source of this set. Coincidentally, it opens with one of the two tracks on the tracklist not produced by Shad himself. Saundra Phillips' "Miss Fatback" is nonetheless fascinating as it's one of cult disco producer Greg Carmichael's earliest productions from 1975 (before he went on to produce Inner Life, Bumblebee Unlimited, Universal Robot Band with fellow producer Patrick Adams). The other track not issued by the Shad sound factory is Almeta Lattimore's 7" single "These Memories," a truly great soulful track from 1975 and now a sought-after classic on the international Soul scene. Shad's forte was Jazz, and the sessions usually used the best musicians you could think of, including Bernard Purdie, Billy Hart, Stanley Clarke, Dom Um Romao, Joe Sample, Freddie Robinson, Gordon Edwards, Larry Willis, Wilbur Bascomb to name just a few. Filled with gorgeous Fender Rhodes chords and heavy basslines, they define the unmistakable Mainstream sound which had one foot in the great jazz and bop tradition and the other in the sonic jazz explorations of the early 70s. Oscillating between jazzed-up covers of soul hits like Jay Berliner’s "Papa Was A Rolling Stone" or Afrique’s "Kissing My Love" and more introspective originals such as Hal Galper's "This Moment" or Dave Hubbard's "T.B.'s Delight", They all have this perfect balance between groove and depth. One perfect example is Pete Yellin's "Bird and The Ouija Board," a superb 12 min opus starting off with a deep abstract improvisation before switching to an up-tempo funk beat fueled by drummer Billy Hart and bass player Stanley Clarke.

Frank Karikari is the son of legendary Highlife musician Ralph Karikari who played bass on countless classic albums such as "Sikyi Highlife" by Dr. K. Gyasi & His Noble Kings. So, Frank grew up surrounded 24/7 with high class Highlife music plus he has inherited the natural talent of his father. Now he teamed up with the Polyversal Souls to keep the spirit of Highlife alive.

"Siakwaa / Nana Agyei" are two songs taken from above mentioned album "Sikyi Highlife". Frank gets here some vocal support from the original court singers of the Ashanti king, which fits perfectly, as both songs are praise songs to the king.

"Odo Agye Gye Me" is composed by legendary Kumasi based singer Baffour Kyei, who sang for such groups like Kyeremateng Stars or B.B. Collins & His Powerful Believers. Besides creating this song, he is part of the choir on this future Highlife classic.

Amsterdam based imprint Taped Artifact welcomes Erik Anthony to their label. With only one contribution to the Dynamic Reflection label back in 2017, very less is known about the young Amsterdam producer. But here he makes a stellar techno debut with his first solo EP backed with a Vril remix.

On the a-side things kick off with 'Board Walk', haunting vocal chops combined with droning kick drums combined making it a serious big-room techno jam. 'Oclose' brings more soul to the game, subtle basslines and dreamy synths create an uplifting and joyful playground for endless dancing. Vril then stirs things up, his take on 'Oclose' has more punch, a different energy and his trademark hazy dub-techno twist. Last track 'Separate' is an emotive yet powerful techno workout that closes the four track affair that can be seen as a promising allround debut release.

Free Love, the artists formerly known as Happy Meals return to Optimo Music with ‘Extreme Dance Anthems’ a phantasmic mini album from their hearts to yours.

They say – “We recorded EXTREME DANCE ANTHEMS in our recently moved studio, ‘Full Ashram Celestial Garden’ which is now situated in a building that holds both a church below us and a sex club next door. Most of the tracks were formed from late-night sessions that we started to kind of ritualistically hold inspired from a particular thought or idea that we later cut down and did a live mixdown of. The music is about physicality and the metaphysical – it is about a recontextualisation of the ineffable as a centre point of existence which in turn influences how we engage with everything around us. A celebration of the unquantifiable, unspeakable, indivisible EXPERIENCE as the throne from which all ideas are derived. Even though the world is fucked- we are here.

On the face of it – I realise that this description might just seem like apolitical hippy bullshit but fuck that – as a deliberate result of the modern political landscape, our societies’ individual and collective disengagement with the metaphysical has led us to treat other humans, animals and our environment like resourceful statistics rather than something that actually holds any inherent value. An Inner Revolution of the foundations of our reality in a way that reintroduces the essence of existence, and not merely its describable derivatives, into the conversation of how we should live our lives INFORMS our perception of the world in a way that demands us to ACT. The record is about a kind of gradual awakening between the two of us – a reconnection with the magic around us.

The ineffable is not without moments of illumination- mostly in the form of immediate absurdity: ONE DAY WE WILL ALL BE DEAD BUT HERE WE ARE ALIVE INSTEAD.

The record is called EXTREME DANCE ANTHEMS because it made us both laugh”.

Sometimes you know it’s coming, sometimes it’s unexpected, but the time to hang your boots will always come. It’s better when you have total control, even better if you end up on a high (or on a low). After seven years of sonic interferences, calibrating the soundscape of field recordings and helping to recreate the old sounds of today, Gonzo is retiring from music. It’s a goodbye, yeah, and a well-crafted one.
But “Ruído(s)” doesn’t sound like an intentional one. You won’t listen to it on any of the thirteen tracks that scavenge for a solution in the space between ambient music and field recordings. You won’t feel it in the intense connection between human and natural sounds and how sometimes everything oscillates in opposite states of mind. You won’t even read it in the intense, but subtle, humor present in some of the pieces. You won’t, because it’s not an intentional goodbye. You only know it is, because you’re reading this.
What is it then? It’s a celebration of random sound. How can you experience something scholastic and, simultaneously, deeply hilarious? Just think about the amazing triad formed by “A Fuga dos Grilos”, “Degredado(s)” and “Cantiga Parva”. First, you’re blessed with six minutes that build up on the idea that sound can be an intense religious experience, echoes going back and forth to create a fantastic Boiler Room feeling (one populated with raving Gonzos doing dabs in front of the camera) that eventually ends up with a cinematic touch: someone saying the title of the song out loud. One second after we are into the Flying Lizards world, with two songs that shake any pretentious seriousness of the previous track.
Is it serious or not? It is. But it doesn’t have to be. In “Ruído(s)” Gonzo recounts pop/electronic history through field recordings and weird-soft beats. More than compiling his seven-year history, Gonzo is more worried to understand where he’s leaving his ideas, Caretaker style. Speaking of Caretaker, Leyland Kirby should think about reviving Caretaker and do a whole album around “Brilhante Cortejo”: it’s haunted ballroom in a ‘cracked’ nutshell.
As the album progresses and the need to revisit it grows, it becomes clearer(?) that “Ruído(s)” is more than an artist self-indulging on his work – in a very good manner. It’s also a condensed catalog of Portuguese music and its sounds, a circular trip down the memory lane of a forgotten country and its landscape. “Ruído(s)” is a goodbye to a country and its traditions. It does it without sulking but with the most respectful loud laugh - the Gonzo way.

Zodiac, a new collaboration between Brendon Moeller and Monty Luke, present a heady brew of sci-fi dub and deep rhythms on a full-length album, ‘Serengeti By Night’.

With meditative roots music at the very heart of ‘Serengeti’, experimental ideas are excavated over ten tracks. Vivid atmospheres are conjured up, as tribal trance, voodoo dub and otherworldly electronics are deployed over rock steady rhythms.

With influences that lie in the musical endeavours of African Headcharge to Rhythm & Sound, Public Image Limited to Cybotron, Zodiac keep the flame burning for exploratory dub-leanings, and deliver an album from the space station above that administers sophisticated braindance sounds that will command repeat listens...

Leif presents the third instalment of his 10" vinyl series exploring off-kilter, shimmering rhythmic and melodic abstractions